V 
I    i\ 


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GIFT  OF 
Class   of  1887 


The  Contrary  Winds  of  Life 


BY 

REV.  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 
H 


1902 

BAKER  PRINTING  CO. 
OAKLAND,  CAL. 


CA 


THE    CONTRARY    WINDS    OF   LIFE. 

"  He  saw  them  toiling  in  rowing  for  the  wind 
was  contrary. ' ' — Mark  6.4$.  . 


|HE  every  day  incidents  in  the  life  of 
Christ  are  full  of  significance  for  He 
taught  by  what  He  did  as  well  as  by 
what  He  said.  Every  word  that  He 
spoke  with  His  lips  was  made  flesh  in  His 
own  conduct.  If  He  spoke  to  men  the  Para- 
ble of  the  Good  Samaritan,  He  also  "went 
about  doing  good."  If  He  said  that  "men 
ought  always  to  pray  and  not  to  faint,"  He 
Himself  prayed  often  and  sometimes  spent 
whole  nights  in  prayer.  If  He  said  ' '  Love 
your  enemies,"  He  loved  His  enemies  and 
prayed  for  tnem  when  they  were  killing  Him 
on  the  cross.  His  whole  life  was  a  revelation 
from  God  to  men. 

The  event  referred  to  in  the  text  has  cheered 
and  helped  many  a  discouraged  heart.  Jesus 
and  His  disciples  had  been  busy  all  day  teach- 
ing and  feeding  the  hungry  multitude.  At 
nightfall  the  Master  went  away  into  the 
mountain  to  pray,  leaving  the  disciples  to 
cross  the  Lake  in  an  open  boat  to  meet  Him 
next  day  at  a  place  appointed.  The  little 

988254 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


Lake  lies  below  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the 
torrents  have  washed  out  deep  gullies  in  the 
surrounding  hills.  Down  through  these  the 
wind  blows  fiercely  as  through  a  funnel :  the 
storms  are  fierce  and  sudden.  Thus  it  hap- 
pened that  while  the  disciples  pulled  hard  at 
their  oars  they  were  making  no  headway. 
They  struggled  all  night  until  three  o'clock 
in  the  morning — it  was  in  the  fourth  watch 
we  are  told — unable  to  bring  their  boat  to  the 
opposite  shore.  And  all  the  while  the  loving 
interest  of  Christ  was  looking  their  way — 
"  He  saw  them  toiling  in  rowing,  for  the  wind 
was  contrary."  It  suggests  the  theme  I  am 
to  preach  to  you  about  this  morning — ' '  The 
Contrary  Winds  of  Life." 

7.     The  fact. 

The  wind  was  contrary,  the  fundamental 
fact  was  against  them.  It  was  before  the  days 
of  steam  ;  there  is  no  tide  on  the  little  lake  ; 
the  wind  therefore  was  the  main  fact  and  it 
was  contrary.  It  could  not  be  changed  nor 
could  they  reason  with  it.  They  could  only 
oppose  its  blind,  meaningless  opposition  with 
their  puny  strength. 

If  you  have  ridden  your  bicycle  up  from 
San  Jose  on  a  summer  afternoon,  you  can  re- 
member how  the  wind  disputed  your  progress 
every  inch  of  the  way.  It  never  stopped  to 
rest  for  a  moment  nor  did  it  turn  aside  to 
gather  nosegays;  it  opposed  you  ceaselessly 


THE  CONTRARY   WINDS   OF  I,IFE 


and  made  your  progress  hard.  I  remember 
once  entering  the  English  Channel  when  the 
wind  was  blowing  seventy  miles  an  hour  and 
an  almost  unprecedented  storm  swept  the 
south  of  England.  We  were  sent  ashore  on  a 
tender  at  Southampton  and  spent  the  day  at 
Salisbury.  As  we  threaded  the  narrow  little 
streets,  the  fierce  wind  would  seize  and  thrust 
us  roughly  against  the  wall  without  so  much 
as  asking,  ''By  your  leave."  The  contrary 
wind  is  a  thing  that  cannot  be  changed  nor 
ordered  off;  it  cannot  be  climbed  over  nor 
crawled  under ;  and  it  serves  as  a  good  type 
of  the  opposition  that  confronts  many  a  life. 

There  are  men  and  women  in  every  com- 
munity who  find  themselves  unhappily  mar- 
ried. They  did  not  mean  to  be  ;  they  thought 
they  were  making  a  great  stroke  when  they 
walked  up,  blushing  and  smiling,  to  the  mar- 
riage altar.  But  young  people  at  twenty-one 
do  not  know  as  much  about  many  things  as 
they  will  know  later — the  human  nature  of 
the  opposite  sex  is  one  of  the  things.  Young 
men  sometimes  think  that  all  the  girls — all 
the  pretty  girls  at  least — are  angels  hiding 
away  their  wings  under  dainty  gowns  out  of 
sheer  modesty  and  consideration  for  the  rest 
of  us.  And  some  of  the  girls  fancy  that  all 
the  young  men — at  least  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  their  charms — are  L,ord  Rochesters  in 
disguise.  It  is  riot  just  that  way  and  mature 


THE  CONTRARY   WINDS   OF 


people  here  and  there  are  finding  out  that 
they  have  made  mistakes  which  are  beyond 
remedy.  There  are  children  or  there  is  too 
much  regard  for  the  old  fashioned  institution 
of  marriage  for  them  to  think  of  leaving  the 
ship  and  taking  to  sea  in  the  open  boat  of 
divorce  :  they  feel  they  must  sail  the  voyage 
through.  But  the  happiness  they  hoped  for 
is  impossible  because  of  fundamental  differ- 
ences in  taste  or  inclinations,  and  from  lack 
of  congeniality  in  the  main  interests  and  pur- 
poses in  life.  It  was  scarcely  noticeable  at 
first  but  it  grew  worse  as  the  years  wore 
along.  Two  lines  which  are  only  a  little  off 
the  parallel  carried  far  enough  are  as  wide 
apart  as  the  width  of  the  universe.  The  fact 
is  these  people  made  a  serious  mistake  and 
there  in  the  home  which  is  the  fundamental 
fact  for  every  rightly  constituted  life,  the 
wind  is  contrary.  Happiness,  peace  of  mind 
and  spiritual  growth  must  be  gained  if  they 
are  gained  at  all  in  the  face  of  that  serious 
opposition. 

In  another  home  it  may  be  a  dull,  disobedi- 
ent or  wayward  son.  It  would  be  a  strong  de- 
terrent to  evil  if  all  young  people  could  realize 
how  utterly  the  parents  give  over  their  own 
happiness  into  the  keeping  of  their  children. 
If  the  children  go  wrong  it  is  all  up  with 
the  parents  so  far  as  earthly  happiness  is  con- 
cerned. In  some  homes  instruction,  persua- 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


sion,  entreaty,  correction  all  seem  to  avail 
nothing.  It  is  like  arguing  with  a  headwind — 
your  words  ot  remonstrance  are  blown  down 
your  own  throat.  The  deepseated  distress  of 
a  father  over  a  headstrong  boy,  who  thought 
he  knew  it  all  and  who  by  every  move  was  pro- 
claiming to  the  world  that  he  knew  scarcely 
anything,  has  appealed  to  my  sympathies  as 
strongly  as  any  fact  I  have  met  in  my  life  as 
a  pastor. 

The  Bible  uses  a  telling  phrase  about  the 
young  man  who  is  headed  wrong — "  He  goes 
as  an  ox  to  the  slaughter."  The  ox  does  not 
know  where  he  is  to  bring  up ;  the  butcher 
knows ;  the  man  driving  the  ox  knows  ;  and 
the  bystanders  all  appreciate  the  significance 
of  what  is  taking  place  but  the  ox  himself  is 
blind  as  to  the  outcome.  So  the  young  man 
bent  on  a  wrong  course  spends  his  nervous 
force,  hours  sacred  to  sleep,  time,  money, 
standing,  opportunities  for  gaining  the  friend- 
ship and  esteem  of  older  men  in  foolish  or 
vicious  ways,  wasting  the  very  things  he  needs 
for  his  own  career,  if  he  would  make  himself 
a  man  among  men.  How  the  scripture  sums 
it  all  up,  —  "He  goes  as  an  ox  to  the 
slaughter!"  And  in  many  a  home  such  a 
son  is  a  fundamental  fact ;  he  is  the  son  of 
that  father  and  the  fact  cannot  be  changed. 
The  peace,  the  happiness,  the  spiritual 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS   OF 


growth  in  that  home  must  somehow  be  worke  d 
out  in  the  face  of  that  contrary  wind. 

It  may  be  persistent  ill-health.  There  are 
ills  which  cannot  be  cured  :  we  must  simply 
endure  them  as  we  endure  the  harsh  north 
wind.  I  know  there  are  lighthearted  people 
running  about  who  claim  that  tuberculosis, 
cancer,  Bright 's  disease  and  all  the  rest  are 
only  matters  of  imagination  ;  that  all  we  have 
to  do  is  to  imagine  they  are  gone,  and  we  are 
perfectly  well.  This  would  be  cheering  news 
to  thousands  of  earth's  sufferers  if  it  were 
only  true.  The  trouble  is  the  facts  in  the 
case  are  utterly  opposed  to  such  pleasant 
fancies. 

The  ill  health  may  have  come  through 
the  ignorance  of  youth,  or  through  willful 
disobedience  of  nature's  laws,  or  perchance 
through  no  moral  fault  of  the  sufferer,  but 
whatever  the  cause  the  old  time  soundness  is 
gone.  The  man  will  never  have  good  diges- 
tion, steady  nerves,  a  heart  beating  strong 
and  true,  nor  a  sound  physique  again.  It  means 
much  more  than  physical  discomfort ;  ill 
health  curtails  growth  and  usefulness.  The 
physical  basis  of  intellectual  and  moral  life  is 
of  vital  importance.  Red  blood  in  the  brain 
and  plenty  of  it,  how  much  that  has  to  do 
with  brilliant  thoughts  and  effective  utter- 
ance !  The  body  that  sleeps  nights,  digests 
what  is  given  it  without  a  murmur,  starts 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


early  and  goes  all  day  without  complaining, 
how  much  that  has  to  do  with  keeping  sweet 
in  temper,  maintaining  high  resolves,  making 
the  moral  impress  of  the  life  wholesome ! 
There  are  people  who  do  flighty  things,  utter 
mean  insinuations,  sulk  and  shirk  in  the  face 
of  duty,  largely  because  their  nerves  are  not 
and  have  not  been  for  years  under  control — 
their  nerves  shriek  and  bluster  like  a  lot  of 
excited  orientals  whose  moral  responsibility  we 
almost  question.  The  body  is  a  fact  and  up  to 
the  hour  of  death  every  person  must  live  with 
his  own.  Mind  and  heart  are  compelled  to 
say  to  this  humbler  companion,  "Bone  of 
our  bone,  flesh  of  our  flesh  thou  art."  For 
better  for  worse,  for  richer  for  poorer,  in 
sickness  and  in  health,  they  must  run  the 
race  together.  And  the  sorry  fact  is  that  for 
many  a  soul  the  body  becomes  a  contrary 
wind  blowing  in  opposition  to  the  highest 
growth  and  efficiency. 

I  will  name  but  one  more — a  dreary  occupa- 
tion. Days  like  last  Sunday  I  always  wish  it 
could  be  the  lot  of  every  man  to  be  a  minister 
with  the  joyous  privilege  of  speaking  twice  or 
thrice  a  Sunday  to  his  brother  men  about  the 
glories  of  the  inner,  the  higher,  the  eternal 
life.  Among  all  the  good  things  in  life  there 
is  nothing  which  quite  equals  that  in  its  high 
sense  of  privilege.  With  churches  every- 
where asking  for  forceful,  useful  ministers, 


10  THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 

and  asking  oftentimes  in  vain,  I  cannot  un- 
derstand why  more  young  men  who  have 
health,  brains  and  piety  do  not  hear  in  this 
need  the  call  of  God  to  the  Gospel  ministry. 
But  since  it  is  impossible  that  all  men  should 
preach,  I  would  that  every  man  might  go  out 
to  his  work  singing.  But  some  men  made 
wrong  choice  of  vocation  at  the  start — they 
are  square  blocks  in  round  holes.  Some  had 
necessity  thrust  upon  them — there  were  aged 
parents  to  support  and  they  had  to  catch  the 
nearest  way  for  bread  and  butter.  Others  for 
different  reasons  could  not  gain  the  training 
and  equipment  for  the  work  they  were  fitted 
to  do  and  so  they  are  bound  to  drudgery. 
With  the  elaborate  division  of  labor  that 
characterizes  modern  industry  many  a  man 
must  in  the  process  of  manufacture  perform 
one  detail  that  is  devoid  of  interest  or  inspira- 
tion. He  punches  holes  in  a  shoe,  or  feeds 
material  into  a  huge  machine  or  weighs  end- 
less cargoes  that  are  mere  weight  and  bulk. 
In  modern  industry  this  humdrum  existence 
for  thousands  of  men  is  as  inevitable  as  the 
motion  of  the  wind  on  an  earth  where  the 
temperature  of  different  localities  varies.  It 
dooms  men  to  monotonous  toil  that  lacks  the 
zest  of  variety ;  and  in  their  outlook  for  joy 
and  inspiration,  in  the  effort  that  claims  six- 
sevenths  of  their  time  and  strength,  the  wind 
is  contrary. 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF   LIFE  II 

//.     How  are  we  to  meet  the  fact. 

Three  ways  of  meeting  the  fact  suggest 
themselves.  The  easiest  way  is  to  turn  around 
and  row  with  the  contrary  wind.  The  man 
is  then  making  headway — it  is  all  in  the 
wrong  direction  but  he  is  moving  easily  and 
swiftly.  Those  unhappily  mated  people, 
where  patience,  consideration  for  each  other's 
peculiarities  and  a  strong  effort  to  be  just  and 
reasonable  when  it  is  no  longer  possible  to 
be  loving  would  do  much  to  redeem  an  un- 
happy marriage,  turn  about  and  become  less 
agreeable  to  each  other  than  they  are  to  the 
outside  world.  All  this  is  rowing  with  the 
contrary  wind  in  a  way  to  bring  the  ship 
more  swiftly  on  the  rocks.  Thus  anger, 
lack  of  tact,  ill-advised  opposition  to  the  un- 
ruly son  often  send  him  more  furiously  upon 
his  wrong  course.  The  conviction  that  good 
health  is  impossible  inclines  the  semi-invalid 
to  plunge  into  dissipation  and  the  reckless  use 
of  stimulants  in  a  way  that  means  the  speedier 
shipwreck  of  his  storm-tossed  body.  And  the 
unwillingness  to  find  whatever  significance 
may  attach  to  the  humble  employment,  the 
inability  to  see  that  the  scrubbing  of  a  floor  or 
the  sweeping  of  a  street  becomes  glorious 
when  the  bearing  of  such  toil  upon  human 
health  and  wellbeing  is  regarded,  will  mean 
that  the  day's  work  shall  become  more  and 
more  dreary.  In  every  case  to  bring  the 


12  THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


boat  about  and  row  with  the  opposing  wind 
when  our  highest  interests  lie  in  an  opposite 
direction,  means  suicide  by  the  quickest 
method  open. 

A  more  common  way  is  that  of  discouraged 
indifference  which  allows  the  boat  to  drift 
with  the  contrary  wind.  It  is  a  pathetic  sight 
to  pass  along  a  city  street  and  see  how  many 
faces  there  are  out  of  which  the  light  and  joy 
of  determination  has  faded.  Many  such  lives 
started  with  high  ideals;  they  meant  to  do 
something  worth  while.  But  the  ideals  were 
difficult  and  the  wind  was  against  them  — 
presently  the  ideals  were  thrown  away  and 
the  people  were  living  by  whim  and  mood  or 
by  the  conventions  of  those  about  them,  They 
were  tired  of  the  rowing  and  began  to  drift. 
Many  of  them  once  undertook  the  Christian 
life  ;  they  stood  in  all  sincerity  before  some 
altar  and  took  the  high  vows  that  were  to 
bind  them  to  spiritual  aspiration  and  service. 
But  in  their  homes  or  at  their  places  of  em- 
ployment or  among  worldly  associates  the 
wind  was  contrary,  and  little  by  little  the 
religious  habits  were  dropped,  the  finer 
instincts  died  away  and  the  spiritual  aspira- 
tion was  dead.  Not  many  of  those  who  truly 
become  Christians  ever  turn  aside  to  active 
wrong  doing,  but  alas  how  many  become 
feeble,  listless,  ineffective,  because  there  were 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  their  Christian  de- 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF   UFK  13 

velopment.  The  live  fish  swim  up  stream  but 
the  dead  ones  drift  downward  at  a  rate  deter- 
mined for  them  by  their  environment.  Thus 
there  are  thousands  of  people  out  of  whom 
determination  dies  because  of  obstacles  in  the 
way  and  we  find  them  drifting  with  the  tide 
of  circumstances. 

Then  there  is  the  third  way  which  is  to 
keep  the  boat  headed  right,  no  matter  about 
the  contrary  winds.  We  are  not  responsible 
for  the  winds ;  we  are  not  responsible  for 
many  of  the  obstacles  that  confront  us  ;  we 
are  responsible  for  keeping  the  boat  headed 
right  and  for  making  such  a  pull  as  our 
strength  may  allow. 

When  this  firm  purpose  is  held  the  contrary 
winds  do  not  defeat  manhood,  they  help  to 
create  it.  No  man  ever  became  a  mariner  by 
sailing  his  boat  in  a  horse  trough ;  he  did  it 
by  sailing  the  high  seas  in  all  the  winds  that 
blow.  No  boy  ever  becomes  a  real  man  if  he 
is  brought  up  on  such  a  * '  sheltered  life  "  sys- 
tem that  he  never  faces  difficulty.  Every  boy 
here  this  morning  knows  that  his  kite  will 
only  rise  when  the  wind  blows  hard  against 
it.  It  must  have  the  wind  seeking  to  tear  it 
away  and  the  stout  string  holding  it  to  its 
course,  and  then  the  correlation  of  forces  will 
carry  it  upward.  So  the  difficulties  men  meet, 
and  the  strong  kitestring  of  will,  purpose,  de- 


14  THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


termination  in  their  correlation  carry  the  in- 
dividual life  surely  and  steadily  upward. 

Life  is  not  easy  for  many  of  us  —  let  us 
thank  God  for  that  !  Life  is  easy  for  clams 
and  for  rich  men's  sons  who  never  undertake 
any  business  of  their  own,  never  seek  to  be 
useful  in  political  life,  never  lend  a  hand  to 
philanthropic  effort,  never  try  to  extend  the 
borders  of  art,  science  or  exploration.  Life  is 
indeed  easy  for  them  —  and  look  at  them  ! 
There  is  not  much  to  choose  between  the 
clams  lying  in  their  soft  mud-bath  and  the 
soft-shelled  young  men  driving  their  bobtailed 
horses  and  saying  empty  things  to  the  girls. 
Take  boys  or  men  away  from  all  the  contrary 
winds  and  in  a  short  time  you  have  nothing 
left  but  pulp. 

The  Lord  once  undertook  the  education  of 
a  race  out  of  whom  all  purpose,  determination, 
spirit  had  died  because  they  were  held  in 
hopeless  slavery.  How  did  he  go  about  it  ? 
He  set  them  to  doing  hard  things.  The  very 
night  they  started  they  found  themselves  in  a 
pocket.  On  the  left  was  an  arm  of  the  Red 
Sea  ;  on  the  right  the  desert  yawning  and 
ready  to  swallow  them  up  in  hopeless  starva- 
tion ;  in  front  lay  the  Red  Sea  itself  and  be- 
hind was  Pharaoh's  army  ready  to  slaughter 
those  who  fought  and  to  drag  the  rest  back 
into  slavery  !  They  had  nowhere  else  to  look 
and  so  they  looked  up.  And  the  Lord  said  to 


THE   CONTRARY   WINDS  OF   UFB 


them  through  his  servant  Moses,  '  '  Speak  to 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go  forward.'  ' 
"  But  the  sea  is  there,  "  they  cried.  "  Speak 
to  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go 
forward,"  was  the  command.  "But  it  is 
impossible;  we  shall  all  be  drowned."  And 
yet  again,  "Speak  to  the  children  of  Israel, 
that  they  go  forward."  Then  they  undertook 
to  do  the  impossible  and  somehow  they  got 
through.  It  was  the  beginning  of  years  of 
hard  experience  and  by  it  they  were  trained 
for  an  enduring  usefulness. 

In  this  connection  I  think  also  of  St.  Paul, 
who  stands  as  one  of  the  most  resolute,  heroic, 
useful  figures  in  all  history.  He  owed  much 
to  the  contrary  winds.  Had  he  been  settled 
in  a  country  parish,  with  an  endowed  church, 
with  all  the  people  in  town  professing  Chris- 
tians, we  should  probably  never  have  heard 
of  him.  Persecution  was  his  daily  bread  and 
in  the  teeth  of  it  he  went  on  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  "Of  the  Jews  five 
times  I  received  forty  stripes  save  one  ;  once 
I  was  stoned,  thrice  was  I  shipwrecked,  a  day 
and  a  night  have  I  been  in  the  deep.  In  perils 
of  robbers,  in  perils  of  mine  own  countrymen, 
in  perils  in  the  city,  in  perils  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  perils  among  the  heathen,  in  perils 
by  false  brethren.  In  weariness  and  painful- 
ness,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold  and  naked- 
ness!" This  is  a  fair  sample  of  his  experience. 


16  THE   CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


Yet  in  the  face  of  it  all  there  was  never  any 
disposition  to  falter.  "  None  of  these  move 
me,' '  he  cheerily  calls  to  us  as  he  goes  about 
his  work.  He  was  no  dull  Stoic  ;  he  was  no 
whining  idler ;  he  was  active,  courageous, 
joyous  to  the  last.  He  could  face  all  the  con- 
trary winds  that  blew  and  at  the  hour  of  his 
departure  add  it  all  up  by  saying,  ' '  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith.  Henceforth 
there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness." What  a  magnificent  doxology  to 
round  out  a  life  which  had  been  wrought  out 
in  the  face  of  unparalleled  opposition ! 

I  contrasted  this  with  the  tone  of  a  young 
minister  I  recently  met.  He  was  still  .under 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  in  good  health,  with 
much  more  than  average  training  and  equip- 
ment for  his  work.  But  he  had  already  found 
his  way  into  that  "fatigued  and  gently  com- 
plaining spirit"  in  which  a  critic  of  the 
English  clergy  said  that  half  of  them  spent 
their  days.  He  told  me  how  hard  his  parishes 
had  been.  In  one,  the  "people  were  world- 
ly;" in  another,  "they  refused  to  attend 
church;"  in  another,  "they  gossiped  and 
made  trouble  in  the  society;"  in  another, 
"  they,  were  utterly  lacking  in  religious  feel- 
ing." Everywhere  he  had  found  something 
wrong.  He  had  almost  decided  to  give  it  up 
and  try  to  earn  his  bread  by  being  a  book 


THE  CONTRARY   WINDS  OF   IJFE  IJ 

agent  or  engaging  in  other  secular  occupa- 
tion. But  what  are  ministers  for  if  not  for 
communities  where  people  are  worldly,  irre- 
ligious, unwilling  to  attend  church  !  If  a 
community  could  be  found  where  all  the 
people  attended  church  twice  every  Sunday, 
had  family  prayers  night  and  morning  every 
day  in  the  week,  gave  a  tenth  of  their  in- 
comes to  charity  and  read  the  Missionary 
Herald  and  Life  and  Light  from  cover  to 
cover,  what  need  would  there  be  for  a  preacher 
of  righteousness  !  There  are  difficulties  in- 
deed in  all  callings,  in  every  undertaking 
that  is  worth  while,  in  the  pathway  of  every 
aspiration  that  looks  high.  And  the  hard 
task  of  meeting  these  difficulties  is  the  most 
effective  means  of  development  that  Infinite 
Wisdom  seems  to  have  been  able  to  devise. 

The  sailors  have  a  fine  expression — "the 
fellowship  of  the  oars."  The  sense  of  com- 
munion which  comes  when  eight  of  them 
bend  to  their  work  in  bringing  their  boat 
against  wind  and  tide  to  the  desired  haven  is 
full  of  joy.  The  rhythm  of  the  stroke,  the 
blending  of  energy,  the  common  interest 
gives  them  what  they  call  ' '  the  fellowship  of 
the  oars. "  In  similar  fashion  we  are  sum- 
moned to  "  the  fellowship  of  His  sufferings." 
It  is  not  an  easy  world.  It  is  a  world  where 
grains  of  wheat  must  fall  into  the  ground  and 
die  if  they  would  bring  forth  more  wheat.  It 


l8  THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


is  a  world  where  the  friends  of  moral  redemp- 
tion must  climb  up  over  Mt.  Calvary  and 
suffer  their  appointed  hour  upon  the  cross  if 
they  would  carry  the  race  forward.  And  in 
this  very  effort  we  are  to  find  the  effective 
education  that  "  draws  out  "  the  latent  capa- 
cities of  our  natures. 

///.  The  sure  outcome  when  we  meet  the 
fact  aright. 

"  Jesus  saw  them  toiling  in  rowing.'  '  He 
was  on  the  mountain  top  at  prayer  but  his 
thoughts  and  eyes  were  upon  his  friends.  It 
was  so  dark  they  could  not  see  him  nor  could 
they  see  the  shore.  But  down  out  of  the 
mountain  and  on  through  the  darkness  of  the 
third  night-watch,  He  came  to  them  walking 
right  over  the  difficulties  that  baffled  them. 
And  then  the  very  fact  that  He  was  there, 
His  presence,  His  sympathy,  His  words  of 
help,  put  new  energy  into  them  all.  He  did 
not  waft  them  miraculously  to  the  shore  — 
they  rowed  in  a  stroke  at  a  time,  but  it  was 
done  the  more  easily  because  of  the  divine 
sympathy  and  aid  ! 

How  much  it  means  that  there  is  some  one 
who  knows  and  cares  !  How  much  it  means 
to  a  struggling,  striving  boy  if  he  overhears 
his  father  say,  "  The  boy  is  putting  up  a  good 
fight  —  I  am  proud  of  him.  "  And  how  much 
it  means  that  the  Divine  Christ  sees  us  "  toil- 
ing in  rowing  "  and  at  the  very  hour  when 


THE  CONTRARY  WINDS  OF 


we  tremble  on  the  verge  of  discouragement 
and  defeat,  comes  to  us  with  words  of  cheer 
and  courage  !  Thus  it  is  in  this  very  effort  to 
meet  and  conquer  the  contrary  wind  that  God 
will  find  us  and  we  shall  find  Him. 

Discouraged  souls  are  sometimes  saying, 
"If  we  could  only  escape  from  these  difficul- 
ties, we  could  be  such  happy  and  useful 
Christians!"  But  for  them  to  run  away 
from  the  contrary  winds  of  their  particular 
situation  would  be  to  run  away  from  their 
chance  of  knowing  this  divine  approach 
which  comes  to  us  as  we  face  difficulty  and  do 
our  best.  In  grappling  with  those  problems 
in  your  home,  in  seeking  to  make  that  willful 
son  clean,  strong,  true  and  useful,  in  getting  on 
with  the  disagreeable  people  you  are  com- 
pelled to  meet,  in  facing  the  annoyances  of 
your  own  vocation,  in  keeping  up  a  brave 
front  in  your  struggle  with  your  physical  lim- 
itations, right  there  you  are  to  find  your  fel- 
lowship with  Him  whose  eyes  are  upon  us 
when  we  toil  in  our  rowing  and  who  draws 
graciously  near  to  us  when  we  keep  our  boat 
headed  for  the  place  He  has  appointed.  For 
many  of  you  gathered  in  this  Church  this  day 
the  wind  is  contrary,  the  rowing  is  hard,  your 
hands  and  hearts  are  sore  and  weary  !  But 
across  the  waves  that  beat  against  you  and 
out  of  the  darkness  that  leaves  you  uncertain 
as  to  the  result  of  your  struggle,  there  comes 


20  THE  CONTRARY  WINDS   OF 

the  figure  of  Him  in  whose  strength  we  shall 
be  made  strong  and  in  whose  company  we  can 
all  come  to  our  desired  haven. 


*tbe  Christian  Platform. 


'''And  seeing  the  multitudes ;  he  went  up  into 
a  mountain  and  taught  them.''     Mat.  5:1. 

MK   ESUS  began  to  teach  in  a  small  synagogue 

in  the  village  of  Nazareth.     Then  he  went 

into  the  temple  in  the  city    of    Jerusalem. 

*J       To-day  he  ascends  a  mountain  and  stands 

under  the  open  sky.    In  three  years  He  will 

be  saying,  "Go  into  all  the  world    and    teach  my 

truth  to  every  creature."     So  the  kingdom  grows, 

starting  as  a  grain   of  mustard  seed    and  moving 

steadily  toward  the  mighty  tree. 

This  sermon  on  the  mount  stands  in  the  fore- 
ground in  Matthew's  gospel  as  a  kind  of  inaugural 
address.  Was  it  delivered  at  one  time  or  have  we 
here  a  collection  of  sayings  spoken  on  different  oc- 
casions? In  Luke  certain  portions  of  the  sermon 
are  reported  in  two  places  as  having  been  giv- 
en at  different  times.  And  Matthew's  habit  of 
grouping  his  material  is  well  known.  He  groups  a 
series  of  miracles  in  the'eighth  and. ninth  chapters, 
and  a  series  of  parables  in  his  thirteenth  chapter. 
He  also  groups  the  denunciations  of  the  Pharisees 
in  another  chapter,  and  the  teaching  of  Jesus  about 
the  last  days  in  yet  another.  The  claim  is  made, 
therefore,  that  the  sermon  on  the  mount  is  the  re- 
sult of  editing  the  sayings  of  many  different  days. 
Personally,  I  hold  the  view  that  it  was  given  at 
one  time.  The  account  begins,  "When  he  saw  the 
multitudes  he  went  up  into  the  mountain  and 


"This  sermon  was  preached  in  a  course  of  sermons 
on  'The  Gospel  of  Matthew." 


The  Christian  Platform. 


taught  them;"  and  it  closes,  "the  people  were  as- 
tonished at  his  doctrine  for  he  taught  them  as  one 
having  authority."  The  substance  of  certain  por- 
tions of  the  discourse  may  have  been  repeated  on 
other  occasions  as  Luke  indicates.  Jesus  often 
used  the  same  material  a  second  time  as  we  find 
in  his  teaching  about  little  children  in  his  references 
to  the  necessity  of  taking  up  the  cross,  in  his  in- 
sistence that  we  must  save  our  lives  by  losing  them 
in  service.  This  would  explain  the  separate  and 
varying  accounts  in  Luke. 

The  view  that  the  sermon  was  delivered  as  a  sin- 
gle discourse  is  further  strengthened  by  a  consid- 
eration of  the  content  and  structure  of  it.  It 
stands  naturally  in  the  forefront  of  Matthew's 
gospel  because  it  explains  and  defines  the  transition 
from  the  old  to  the  new.  "It  hath  been  said  by 
them  of  old  time  but  I  say  unto  you"  is  a  leading 
note.  It  shows  that  the  new  law  meant  no  relax- 
ation from  the  rigor  of  the  old — "except  your 
righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  the 
kingdom."  It  indicates  that  this  transition  would 
mean  both  continuity  and  progress — "I  come  not 
to  destroy  but  to  fulfill." 

There  is  also  structural  unity  in  the  discourse. 
The  material  fits  into  a  certain  clearly  indicated 
plan.  You  have  seen  many  analyses  of  it.  In  my 
own  study  I  have  been  led  to  believe  that  there  are 
two  main  propositions  discussed: 

I.     Happiness  springs  from  character. 

'II.  Character  is  the  gift  of  God  bestowed  on 
certain  conditions. 

In  maintaining  the  first  proposition,  Jesus  said, 
"Blessed  are  certain  people,"  and  then  he  describ- 
ed them.  His  description  astonished  the  people 
for  it  ran  counter  to  the  popular  judgment.  He 
passed  by  the  outward  circumstances  and  dwelt 


The  Christian  Platform. 


solely  upon  inner  states  of  being.  He  did  not  say 
"Blessed  are  the  rich,  the  famous,  the  mighty,  the 
successful."  Some  of  these  are  and  some  of  them 
are  not  blessed.  The  happy  ones  are  blessed,  not 
because  of  their  outward  circumstances,  but  be- 
cause of  something  deeper.  "Blessed  are  those," 
he  said,  "who  are  mindful  of  their  spiritual  neces- 
sities, gentle,  merciful,  pure  in  heart,  hungering 
and  thirsting  after  righteousness,  making  always 
for  peace."  Their  outward  circumstances  may  be 
stately  or  simple,  but  with  these  traits  of  character 
they  are  blessed  in  either  case.  Happiness  springs 
from  character! 

i.     This  character  is   defined  as  an  inward  state 
of  being. 

The  blessing  was  upon  the  disposition  not  upon 
the  accomplishments.  To  accomplish  much  is  not 
always  within  one's  power;  the  disposition  out- 
lined in  Christ's  beatitudes  may  be  had  for  the  ask- 
ing by  all  who  sincerely  desire  it.  Blessed  are  the 
people  who  have  the  habit  and  disposition  of  mak- 
ing peace,  not  those  who  have  actually  settled  a 
hundred  quarrels  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  those 
who  have  the  habit  and  disposition  of  kindness,  not 
those  who  have  shown  mercy  to  thousands  by 
founding  a  hospital  or  endowing  a  charity.  The 
great  accomplishment  is  only  possible  te>  a  few; 
the  disposition  may  be  gained  by  all.  Blessed  are 
they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness, 
maintaining  a  steady,  eager  desire  for  a  holier  life, 
not  those  who  have  attained  a  certain  degree  of 
righteousness.  The  Pharisee  who  went  up  into 
the  temple  to  pray  had  attained  a  certain  amount  of 
righteousness.  He  counted  it  all  up  as  he  prayed 
with  himself — "I  fast  twice  in  the  week;  I  give  the 
tithe;  I  am  not  unjust,  nor  an  extortioner,  nor  an 
adulterer,  nor,  thank  God,  a  publican."  The  poor 
publican  could  not  have  shown  half  that  attainment, 


The  Christian  Platform. 


but  he  sobbed  out,  "God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sin- 
ner." And  he  went  down  to  his  house  justified  and 
blessed  rather  than  the  other.  "Blessed  are  they 
that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness."  The 
blessing  is  upon  the  inward  disposition,  not  upon 
the  degree  of  outward  achievement. 

Some  of  these  beatitudes  have  puzzled  you,  and  a 
word  or  two  of  explanation  may  be  useful.  "Bless- 
ed are  the  poor  in  spirit" — but  a  poor  spirited  man 
who  crawls  is  not  regarded  as  blessed!  Jesus  said, 
"the  poor  in  spirit,"  conscious  and  mindful  of  their 
spiritual  necessities,  recognizing  their  need  of  di- 
vine forgiveness,  of  renewal  and  cleansing,  of  a 
richer  enduement  of  power  to  live  the  godly  life. 
Blessed  are  those  who  are  conscious  of  their  spir- 
itual necessities  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en. It  belongs  not  to  those  who  say  they  are  rich 
in  holiness  and  increased  with  spiritual  goods  and 
have  need  of  nothing.  It  belongs  to  those  who  are 
mindful  of  their  lack  and  whose  compelling  claim 
upon  the  divine  abundance,  is  that  they  hunger  and 
thirst  after  a  nobler  life;  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  they  shall  be  filled. 

"Blessed  are  they  that  mourn."  Is  mourning  a 
thing  to  be  desired?  Blessed  are  they  that  have 
the  capacity  for  grief,  sympathy,  tenderness.  The 
occasions  for  sorrow  are  in  the  very  constitution  of 
things  and  grief  falls  ever  and  anon  into  all  our 
lives.  Every  one's  parents  die — children  who  have 
loved  and  cherished  their  parents  suffer  grief; 
children  who  have  grown  careless  and  indifferent 
are  secretly  glad  the  old  people  are  out  of  the  way 
so  they  can  enter  upon  the  enjoyment  of  the 
estate.  Blessed  are  the  children  who  can  and  do 
mourn!  A  woman  who  has  loved  her  husband  with 
that  tenderness  and  devotion  possible  only  to  a  good 
woman  whose  affections  are  deeply  enlisted,  mourns 
his  death.  Some  other  shallow  creature  who  mar- 


The  Christian  Platform.  5 

ried  for  convenience,  who  never  lost  herself  in  de- 
votion, sees  her  husband  die,  and  is  not  thus  sorely 
stricken.  But  you  do  not  envy  her — you  say  as 
Christ  did,  Blessed  are  they  that  can  and  do  mourn! 
Any  one  who  walks  with  his  eyes  open,  sees  the 
pain  and  poverty,  the  sin  and  suffering  of  the 
world  and  mourns  over  it.  There  wells  up  in  his 
heart  a  great  feeling  of  compassion  and  out  of 
that  is  born  a  desire  to  do  something  to  relievel 
the  need.  There  are  others  who  walk  lightly, 
thinking  mainly  of  their  ribbons  and  laces,  their 
teas  and  dinners,  their  clubs  and  games,  their  jolly 
times  and  lighthearted  jests — they  have  not  had  a 
sad  hour  in  a  year  over  the  pain  that  lies  upon  the 
weary  world  yonder.  Blessed  are  they  that  can 
and  do  mourn  over  the  world's  need!  You  see 
how  accurate  Jesus  was.  Let  us  thank  God  for  the 
capacity  to  feel  grief,  to  know  sorrow,  to  cherish 
sympathy,  for  we  shall  be  comforted.  The  silly, 
shallow,  light-hearted  nature  has  neither  capacity 
for  sorrow  nor  opportunity  for  comfort. 

"Blessed  are  the  gentle" — not  the  "meek."  From 
the  days  of  Homer,  the  Greek  word  used  here  has 
meant  "gentle.  "They  shall  inherit  the  earth," — and 
we  are  seeing  the  steady  fulfillment  of  the  promise. 
Fierce,  cruel,  bloodthirsty  animals  used  to  possess 
the  earth;  huge  and  awful  monsters  they  were  in 
those  earlier  geologic  periods.  But  they  gave 
place  to  a  finer  and  on  the  whole  a  more  humane 
type.  To-day  even  the  wolves,  bears  and  lions  are 
becoming  scarce.  You  must  either  pay  your  money 
or  travel  far  afield  to  see  them.  But  the  gentle 
animals,  the  sheep,  cows  and  horses,  are  every- 
where and  on  the  increase.  They  are  inheriting  the 
earth's  space  and  the  earth's  food.  They  are  more 
useful  than  the  fierce  animals,  and  whatever  is  most 
useful,  will  ultimately  inherit  the  earth.  In  similar 
fashion,  brutish,  savage  men  gave  place  to  men  of 


The  Christian  Platform. 


intelligence.  And  men  of  cruel,  selfish  intelligence 
are  giving  way  before  the  men  of  humane  and  phil- 
anthropic spirit.  History  and  the  providence  of 
God  are  committing  their  main  interests  to  the 
most  humane  nations — not  to  the  Turks,  Thibetans, 
or  cannibals  of  the  South  Seas,  but  to  the  English, 
the  Germans,  the  Americans.  These  nations  are 
by  no  means  ideal  in  their  humanity,  but  they  are 
the  most  humane  nations  the  world  has  and  they 
are  steadily  growing  better.  The  premium  is  upon 
humanity  and  it  will  ultimately  have  the  field  to 
itself.  The  process  demands  time — Jesus  said  "in- 
herit the  earth,"  not  possess  it  at  once.  The  deaths 
of  many  generations  must  intervene;  then  the  hu- 
mane people  shall  possess  the  earth.  Blessed  are 
the  gentlemen  and  the  gentlewomen! 

"Blessed  are  the  peace-makers" — not  those  who 
never  fight,  but  those  who  make  peace.  Fighting 
has  sometimes  been  inevitable;  it  was  unsought, 
but  it  was  laid  upon  good  men  as  a  hard  necessity — 
blessed  are  they  who  even  then  make  peace.  Gen- 
eral Grant  was  one  of  the  great  peace-makers  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  though  he  was  a  soldier  by 
profession.  Affairs  were  in  such  a  state  that  noth- 
ing but  war  could  close  the  debate  upon  certain, 
vexed  questions  which  troubled  our  nation.  At 
the  call  of  his  country  and  of  God,  General  Grant 
went  out  and  fought  the  war  through  to  a  finish. 
Then  in  the  terms  given  to  Lee,  in  his  suggestion 
that  the  Southern  soldiers  keep  their  horses  as 
they  would  be  "needed  for  the  spring  plowing,"  in 
his  whole  bearing  in  the  hour  of  victory,  he  was 
beating  swords  into  plowshares,  changing  the  de- 
structive temper  of  the  country  into  a  productive 
one,  and  thus  making  peace.  The  history  of  our 
country  for  the  last  thirty  years  would  have  been 
entirely  different  had  not  Grant  been  a  peace-maker. 
It  is  significant  that  Jesus,  the  Prince  of  Peace, 


The  Christian  Platform. 


bore  the  name,  of  the  greatest  soldier  his  race  pro- 
duced. The  name  "Jesus"  is  only  the  Greek  form 
of  the  Hebrew,  "Joshua."  In  certain  aspects  of  his 
work  Jesus  brought  "not  peace  but  a  sword."  Be- 
tween him  and  the  false  teaching  that  was  usurping 
the  place  of  true  religion,  it  was  war  to  the  knife, 
until  the  enemies  of  righteousness  killed  him.  But 
he  destroyed  the  moral  strength  of  the  opposition 
by  his  death  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the  world's 
peace.  Blessed  are  those  whose  purpose,  even 
though  it  lies  through  fields  of  struggle,  looks  for- 
ward to  peaceful  and  settled  conditions — they  shall 
be  called  the  sons  of  God! 

I  need  not  examine  all  the  beatitudes — you  see 
what  Jesus  meant  by  character.  These  people, 
"mindful  of  their  spiritual  necessities,  having  ca- 
pacity for  grief,  merciful,  gentle,  pure  of  heart  and 
peace-makers,"  would  possess  a  wondrous  useful- 
ness. They  would  be  as  "the  salt"  of  society,  sav- 
ing it  from  utter  corruption.  They  would  have  the 
ability  to  instruct  and  enlighten,  serving  as  "lights 
in  the  world."  They  would  do  this  work  simply, 
unaffectedly,  living  out  their  true  selves  and  so  let- 
ting their  light  shine,  that  men  seeing  such  good 
work,  would  glorify  their  Father  in  heaven. 

2.  This  character  must  be  wrought  into  the  very 
structure  of  the  moral  nature. 

Jesus  was  speaking  to  a  race  befuddled  by  arti- 
ficial forms.  He  must  show  the  superiority  of  the 
righteousness  he  would  secure,  to  that  induced  by 
the  law  of  Moses  or  that  practiced  by  the  Scribes. 
It  was  not  enough,  he  said,  that  men  should  refrain 
from  overt  acts  of  murder,  adultery,  revenge;  the 
murderous,  impure  and  retaliatory  desires  must  be 
banished  from  the  heart. 

"It  hath  been  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou 
shalt  not  kill,  but  I  say  unto  you,  Whosoever  hateth 
his  brother  is  in  danger  of  the  judgment."  To  kill 


8  The  Christian  Platform. 

is  to  take  life.  But  life  is  something  more  than  the 
mere  ability  to  walk  about,  to  breathe  and  to  eat. 
A  man's  good  name,  his  health,  his  chance  to  grow 
into  the  fullness  of  manhood,  his  moral  peace,  are 
all  constituent  elements  in  his  life.  To  take  any  of 
these  is  to  take  life.  Thus,  Jesus  said,  hatred,  an- 
ger, neglect  and  indifference  to  a  brother's  welfare 
may  and  do  become  murderous.  It  is  as  wicked  in 
God's  sight  for  a  man  to  run  a  sweat  shop,  grind- 
ing the  lives  out  of  helpless  women  and  children 
in  ten  years  by  scant  wages,  long  hours,  and  un- 
sanitary conditions,  as  for  him  to  take  an  axe  and 
kill  them  in  ten  minutes.  When  I  think  of  the 
wrongs  perpetrated  and  permitted  in  our  cities  to- 
day, and  then  remember  how  little  our  churches 
have  done  to  prevent  it  because  of  their  ignorance, 
their  indifference  and  their  inefficiency,  I  tremble 
at  those  words,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill!"  We  are 
our  brothers'  keepers — keepers  not  only  of  his 
ability  to  breathe  and  eat,  but  of  his  total  life!  In- 
difference and  negligence  touching  another's  well- 
being  become  murderous. 

As  to  adultery,  it  is  not  merely  the  unlawful  act 
that  is  wicked;  the  ugly  desire  that  would  crawl 
out  into  action  if  it  could  and  dared  is  adulterous, 
Jesus  said.  Evil  in  the  heart  hurts  and  is  con- 
demned of  God.  As  to  profane  swearing,  the  ut- 
tered oath  is  evil  and  oh,  so  silly!  How  far  a  man 
has  lost  his  self  respect  when  he  cannot  allow  his 
word  to  stand  alone,  his  yea,  yea,  and  his  nay,  nay, 
without  trying  to  prop  it  up  into  strength  by  pro- 
fanely using  the  sacred  name  of  his  Maker.  But 
behind  that  lies  the  evil  of  the  irreverent  attitude 
of  mind  and  heart  that  prompts  and  permits  the 
swearing.  The  righteousness  of  Christ  demands 
reverence  in  the  heart. 

As  to  retaliation,  the  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth 
for  a  tooth  spirit  was  rife  then  and  is  yet.  The  in- 


The  Christian  Platform. 


jured  party  will  often  boast,  "I  gave  him  as  good 
as  he  sent;  I  paid  him,  back  in  his  own  coin."  "Re- 
sist not  evil"  in  that  retaliatory  spirit,  Jesus  said; 
rather  than  do  that,  take  an  extra  blow  on  thid 
cheek.  He  was  not  abolishing  all  government  or 
expressing  disapproval  of  our  insistence  upon  moral 
order.  It  was  "a  kingdom"  he  came  to  establish, 
not  anarchy;  and  the  representatives  of  that  king- 
dom were  to  sit  upon  thrones  of  moral  usefulness 
judging  and  protecting  the  tribes  of  Israel.  If  a 
burglar  is  robbing  your  home,  he  is  to  be  resisted, 
for  a  country  where  burglary  was  safe  would  not 
be  a  good  country  for  Christ's  kingdom  to  grow 
in.  But  he  is  to  be  resisted  in  the  spirit  of  justice 
and  right,  not  in  the  spirit  of  retaliation.  Even  to- 
ward wrong  doers  our  spirit  is  not  to  be  one  of 
revenge  but  of  redemption — "love  your  enemies, 
do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  pray  for  them  that 
despitefully  use  you,"  as  President  McKinley  pray- 
ed for  his  assassin  and  as  McKinley's  Savior  prayed 
for  those  who  crucified  Him. 

All  these  forms  of  conduct  Jesus  cited  as  illus- 
trations of  the  fact  that  character  must  be  wrought 
into  the  structure  of  the  moral  nature.  The  moral- 
ity of  Moses  was  formal  and  external;  the  morality 
of  Jesus  must  be  vital  and  spiritual. 

3.  The  possession  of  such  character  will  mean 
that  right  action  will  spring  from  right  motive. 

Praying  or  giving  alms  or  fasting  to  be  seen  of 
men  is  not  consistent  with  such  character,  though 
it  has  its  reward.  It  was  here  that  Jesus  pointed 
out  the  contrast  between  the  righteousness  of  His 
kingdom  and  that  of  the  Scribes.  "Take  heed  that 
ye  do  not  your  alms  to  be  seen  of  men."  The  man 
who  sounds  a  trumpet  over  a  charitable  deed  finds 
his  motive  in  seeking  the  praise  of  men.  He  has 
his  reward,  for  men  praise  him — nothing  is  more 
popular  than  charity.  But  he  is  not  doing  alms  at 


io  The  Christian  Platform. 

all — he  is  simply  doing  a  little  business  with  the 
community,  swapping  them  a  ton  of  coal  to  be 
handed  over  to  a  poor  widow,  for  a  ton  of  their 
praise  and  appreciation.  He  has  his  reward  and 
nothing  further  will  come  to  him  either  in  resultant 
character  or  in  heavenly  blessing. 

Likewise  the  man  who  parades  his  piety,  praying 
on  the  street  corner  so  that  more  men  can  see  him, 
is  not  talking  to  God.  He  is  talking  to  the  people 
and  calling  their  attention  to  his  zeal  in  prayer.  It 
is  a  horizontal  transaction  throughout  and  he  has 
his  reward,  not  in  answers  from  heaven,  but  m 
the  praise  of  foolish  men  who  admire  street  cor- 
ner piety. 

In  your  alms-giving,  your  prayer  and  your  fast- 
ing find  the  supreme  motive  in  the  approval  of  the 
Father  who  seeth  in  secret!  The  sense  of  harmony 
with  His  will,  because  it  is  true  and  righteous  al- 
together, furnishes  the  only  correct  and  sufficient 
motive  for  the  character  demanded  by  the  king- 
dom. 

II.  Character  is  the  gift  of  God,  bestowed  on 
certain  conditions. 

The  supreme  object  of  effort  should  be  that  char- 
acter which  is  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God.  We 
are  to  "seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,"  the  sway 
and  rule  of  the  divine  spirit  in  our  hearts — and  that 
is  character.  Even  where  the  phrase  "kingdom  of 
God"  is  extended  beyond  the  individual  heart  to 
include  just  laws,  wholesome  institutions,  equitable 
relations  in  our  industrial  order,  all  these  are  com- 
ponent parts  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  because  they 
possess  a  certain  character.  Thus  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  character,  a  thing  to  be  sought  and  gained; 
a  thing  that  will  grow  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed 
under  right  conditions;  a  thing  that  will  communi- 
cate its  influence  like  leaven;  a  thing  that  in  its 
gradual  progress  may  contain  mixed  elements, 


The  Christian  Platform.  n 

wheat  and  tares  growing  together;  a  thing  that  re- 
sults from  a  divine  implanting,  a  sower  who  is  the 
Son  of  Man  having  gone  forth  to  sow  the  good 
seed  from  which  it  springs;  a  thing  that  has  in  itself 
supreme  value,  like  a  pearl  of  great  price  or  a 
treasure  hid  in  a  field.  Seek  first  therefore  the 
kingdom  of  God  which  is  character. 

But  like  happiness,  contentment,  and  other 
goods,  character  comes  by  indirection.  It  is  our 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  us  that  kingdom 
which  is  character  when  we  meet  certain  condi- 
tions, and  these  conditions  are: 

I.     Consecration. 

Consecration  is  an  act  of  the  will  bringing  one's 
powers  under  the  sway  of  a  holy  purpose.  A  con- 
secrated building  is  one  which  men  by  their  wills 
have  devoted  to  a  sacred  use.  This  act  of  conse- 
cration Jesus  urged  upon  the  people  in  various 
ways.  Seek  first  the  kingdom  which  is  charac- 
ter, he  said;  that  is  to  be  your  central  aim  in  life. 
Treasure  not  up  your  treasures  upon  earth,  where 
moths  eat,  rust  corrupts  and  thieves  steal.  In  mak- 
ing up  your  estimates,  lay  up  your  main  values  in 
those  moral  and  spiritual  attainments  which  are  be- 
yond the  reach  of  moth,  rust  or  thieves.  Where 
your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be — the  heart 
follows  the  treasure.  When  your  loved  ones  em- 
bark in  a  ship  your  heart  is  there  as  it  was  not  be- 
fore. In  placing  estimates  therefore,  let  the  su- 
preme value  attach  to  your  achievements  in  char- 
acter; and  your  heart  will  be  where  your  treasure  is. 

Let  your  purpose  be  clear,  well  defined,  straight- 
forward, like  an  eye  that  sees  single,  not  double  or 
confusing  images;  a  double-minded  man  is  unstable 
and  inefficient  in  all  his  ways.  "No  man  can  serve 
two  masters,"  any  more  than  he  can  go  east  and 
go  west  at  the  same  time.  Good  and  evil,  light  and 
darkness,  God  and  Mammon  are  diametrically  op- 


12  The  Christian  Platform. 

posed  as  are  east  and  west.  You  cannot  serve  and 
follow  both.  Be  more  concerned  about  the  qual- 
ity of  your  life  than  about  the  meat  it  eats  or  the 
raiment  it  puts  on.  "The  life  is  more  than  meat." 
All  these  appeals  are  for  thorough  consecration; 
the  life  must  be  ruled  by  one  supreme  purpose  if 
we  are  to  gain  character. 

Jesus  names  certain  considerations  which  ought 
always  to  be  secondary.  "Be  not  anxious  what  ye 
shall  eat  or  what  ye  shall  put  on."  The  transla- 
tion, "Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,"  is  erro- 
neous. The  word  "thought"  had  a  different  mean- 
ing when  the  King  James  version  was  made.  Queen 
Catherine  was  said  to  have  died  from  "thought" — 
anxiety  killed  her.  In  the  book  of  Samuel,  Saul 
says  to  his  companions,  "Let  us  .return  lest  our 
father  leave  off  caring  for  the  asses  and  'take 
thought'  for  us" — be  anxious  about  us.  Jesus  was 
too  wise  to  set  a  premium  on  thoughtlessness  or 
improvidence. 

The  literal  use  of  the  words  has  misled  certain 
people.  They  quoted  the  command  and  the  prom- 
ise, "Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow;  the  Lord 
will  provide."  Then  they  went  on  as  lighthearted 
as  birds,  as  tranquil  as  the  lilies  of  the  field.  It 
was  dramatic,  but  not  sensible  nor  moral.  I  am 
thinking  now  of  a  minister  who,  when  he  received 
his  salary,  gave  it  all  away,  putting  by  nothing  for 
sickness  or  old  age.  He  is  now  past  fifty,  sick  and 
unable  to  work;  without  children  or  relatives  to 
provide  for  him  and  with  nothing  to  provide  the 
necessities  for  himself  and  his  faithful  wife.  The 
Lord  will  provide?  He  will  provide  if  some  kind- 
hearted  people,  who  have  not  been  so  thoughtless 
or  improvident  as  the  brother  named,  come  forward 
and  put  up  the  cash.  If  all  the  generous  people 
had  been  equally  imprudent,  we  do  not  quite  see 
how  the  Lord  would  provide — the  indications  are 


The  Christian  Platform.  13 

that  the  minister  would  starve.  "Take  no  thought" 
is  foolish  and  immoral;  "be  not  anxious"  is  wise 
and  Christian! 

But  did  not  Jesus  use  illustrations  that  encour- 
age improvidence?  "Consider  the  birds  of  the  air; 
they  neither  sow  nor  reap;  they  have  neither  store- 
house nor  barn,  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth 
them.  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field;  they  toil  not 
neither  do  they  spin,  and  God  clothes  them  so  that 
Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed  like  one 
of  these." 

Is  it  meant  that  we  should  hop  about  the  trees 
and  play  in  the  grass  like  birds,  neither  sowing  nor 
reaping?  Is  it  meant  that  we  should  lie  passive  like 
the  lilies  neither  toiling  nor  spinning,  trusting  God 
for  food  and  clothes?  That  would  be  following 
the  letter,  which  would  kill  us  all,  but  the  spirit  of 
the  passage  will  make  us  truly  alive.  The  birds 
do  what  they  were  made  to  do;  they  fulfil  the  pur- 
pose of  their  existence — they  were  not  made  to  sow 
nor  reap — and  your  Heavenly  Father  feedeth  them, 
not  by  a  succession  of  miracles  or  special  provi- 
dences, but  by  his  purpose  wrought  into  the  very 
constitution  of  things.  The  lilies  do  what  they 
were  made  to  do — they  were  not  made  to  toil  nor 
spin — and  God  clothes  them.  The  lily  is  never  idle; 
it  is  always  reaching  down  into  the  soil  for  its  share 
of  sustenance  and  up  into  the  air  for  the  sunshine 
and  the  rain.  These  forms  of  bird  life  and  plant 
life  live  out  their  birdhood  and  lilyhood  without 
anxiety  and  their  needs  are  met.  Men  and  women, 
live  out  your  manhood  and  womanhood  with  sim- 
ilar fidelity,  do  what  you  were  made  to  do,  fulfill  the 
purpose  of  your  existence,  and  you  too  will  be  fed 
and  clothed.  Do  not  give  up  your  sowing  and 
reaping — you  were  not  made  to  be  birds.  Do  not 
cease  toiling  and  spinning,  you  are  not  meant  to 
be  lilies.  Live  out  your  manhood,  laboring  six 


The  Christian  Platform. 


days  and  doing  all  your  work  as  well  as  remember- 
ing the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy  by  incorpo- 
rating into  your  life  the  spiritual  values  it  suggests. 
Be  diligent  in  business  serving  the  Lord  as>  well  as 
continuing  constant  in  prayer;  and  do  all  this 
without  anxiety,  for  your  needs  will  surely  be  met. 
In  thus  obeying  the  laws  of  your  nature  let  energy 
and  trust  combine  and  you  will  know  the  peace 
and  joy  of  the  birds  and  the  lilies. 

Jesus  spoke  these  words  that  he  might  subordi- 
note  the  secondary  to  the  primary.  The  two  main 
concerns  with  some  people  are,  "What  shall  we 
eat?"  and  "What  shall  we  put  on?"  What  shall  we 
eat;  how  much  of  it;  how  costly  shall  the  china 
and  cut  glass,  the  linen  and  the  silver  be  that  we 
use  in  eating  it;  how  fine  shall  we  make  the  din- 
ing room  where  we  eat  it;  how  many  servants  shall 
we  keep  to  cook  and  serve  it;  this  is  the  first  great 
concern.  And  the  second  is  like  unto  it.  "What 
shall  we  put  on?" — our  clothes,  how  numerous  and 
fine  shall  they  be;  and  our  houses,  for  houses  are 
clothes  that  we  wear  at  night  and  whenever  we  are 
indoors,  for  decency,  for  comfort  and  for  adorn- 
ment as  we  wear  ordinary  clothes;  and  shall  we 
also  wrap  ourselves  in  carnages,  yachts  and  Pull- 
mans— movable  clothes  that  carry  us  with  them 
wherever  they  go?  Thus  some  people  are  thinking 
more  of  what  they  put  into  the  body  and  what  they 
wrap  around  it  than  of  the  character  of  the  life 
within.  They  are  forgetting  that  "the  life  is  more 
than  meat." 

Jesus  said  that  anxiety  about  food  and  clothing 
is  unnatural— the  birds  and  lilies  do  not  feel  it.  It 
is  also  useless— "what  man  by  being  anxious  can 
add  a  cubit  to  his  stature,"  can  grow  to  be  six  feet 
four — men  do  not  grow  tall  by  anxiety.  It  is  also 
immoral — "your  Heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye 
have  need  of  these  things,"  food,  raiment  and  all 


The  Christian  Platform.  15 

the  rest;  he  will  provide  them  if  you  fulfill  the  law 
of  your  being  without  anxiety.  Seek  character  and 
his  righteousness  in  your  domestic,  industrial,  social 
and  political  relations  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you. 

"What  shall  we  eat?"  is  a  necessary  question,  but 
it  is  secondary.  The  first  question  is,  "Are  we 
worth  feeding;  is  the  world  any  better  for  our  be- 
ing kept  alive?"  "What  shall  we  put  on,"  is  also 
necessary,  but  secondary.  If  we  enter  society  we 
must  put  on  something,  but  does  society  need  us; 
is  it  profited  by  our  being  there?  The  quality  of 
the  life  is  more  than  the  meat  that  feeds  it  or  the 
raiment  that  wraps  it  up.  In  these  clear,  strong1 
words  Jesus  urges  upon  men  the  consecration  of 
the  life  by  the  dominance  of  some  holy  purpose 
that  shall  give  it  direction  and  quality. 

2.     Request. 

It  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the 
kingdom,  which  is  character,  but  you  must  make 
the  request.  "Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek 
and  ye  shall  find;  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you.  What  man  is  there  of  you  whom  if  his  son  ask 
bread  or  fish  or  an  egg,  would  give  him  a  stone, 
a  serpent  or  a  scorpion?  If  ye  then,  being  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how 
much  more  shall  your  Heavenly  Father  give  good 
things,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  kingdom,  to  them 
that  ask  Him?"  It  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure 
to  give  you  character,  but  you  must  ask  for  it. 

Why  must  we  ask?  If  our  Father  is  good,  will 
he  not  give  us  what  we  need  anyhow?  How  fool- 
ish that  objection  to  prayer  becomes  as  we  look  it 
over!  You  are  a  father,  perhaps.  It  is  your  good 
pleasure  to  give  your  boy  food,  clothing,  toys,  a 
home  and  an  education,  but  you  want  him  to  live 
with  you.  You  could  not  begin  to  give  him  all 
you  have  to  bestow,  if  he  never  came  to  (you  nor 


1 6  The  Christian  Platform, 

spoke  to  you.  The  man  who  never  prays  is  like 
a  boy  who  never  speaks  to  his  father.  You  wanfl 
your  boy  to  come  to  you,  and  ask,  seek,  knock  at 
the  door  of  your  heart.  You  want  him  to  talk  over 
his  affairs  with  you,  his  tops  and  kites,  his  friends 
and  games,  his  studies  and  books.  He  does  not 
come  to  instruct  you  nor  to  persuade  you  to  take 
an  interest  in  his  affairs.  He  comes  because  no 
boy  can  develop  as  he  should  without  coming  up 
into  communion  and  fellowship  with  his  fat'her.  He 
comes  because  you  cannot  live  out  your  father- 
hood without  his  approach  and  association.  The 
boy  who  thus  comes  to  his  father  receives  a  great 
deal  more  than  the  food,  the  trousers  and  the  bed 
his  father  pays  for;  he  receives  constant  uplift  and 
enrichment  in  his  personal  life. 

There  you  have  the  picture  Jesus  gave  of  prayer 
If  you  earthly  fathers,  sharing  in  the  world's  evil, 
know  how  and  have  the  ability  out  of  your  older, 
wiser,  richer  lives,  to  give  all  manner  of  good 
things  to  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your 
Heavenly  Father  take  up  his  children  into  the  ever- 
lasting arms  of  his  helpfulness,  and  make  them  in- 
creasingly, as  Peter  said,  "partakers  of  the  divine 
nature!"  If  you  desire  character,  therefore,  on  the 
higher  levels,  there  must  be  on  your  part  the  ap- 
proach to  the  Heavenly  Father,  and  the  request  for 
fellowship  with  Him  who  alone  can  complete  our 
lives. 

You  notice  the  points  emphasized  by  Jesus  in  his 
teaching  about  prayer  in  this  passage.  "If  a  'son' 
ask  bread" — the  request  proceeds  from  one  who 
sustains  a  certain  relationship  to  the  father.  Prayer 
must  be  accompanied  by  a  definite  moral  attitude 
to  be  efficacious.  People  who  have  been  living  ir- 
reverently, disobediently,  thoughtlessly,  find  them- 
selves in  hard  straits;  they  pray  for  a  certain  thing, 
expecting  that  the  answer  will  come  like  a  reply  to 


The  Christian  Platform.  17 

a  telephone  call;  if  they  are  disappointed  they  reck- 
lessly assert  that  "there  is  nothing  in  prayer."  Such 
an  attempt  at  prayer  is  as  far  from  the  real  prayer 
that  proceeds  out  of  a  consecrated  heart,  out  of  the 
habit  of  life  that  belongs  to  the  child  of  God,  as 
the  appeal  of  the  tramp  at  the  back  door,  desirous 
of  a  cold  potato  to  make  him  more  comfortable  in 
his  wrong  life,  is  far  from  the  request  of  the  child 
sitting  at  his  father's  table  and  living  in  trustful 
obedience,  for  his  daily  bread.  If  a  "son"  ask 
bread,  he  will  not  get  a  stone! 

The  objects  of  desire  are  also  indicated — if  a  son 
ask  bread  or  fish  or  an  egg.  Nothing  is  said  about 
fancy  luxuries,  but  if  the  son  ask  for  those  simple, 
staple  necessities  that  satisfy  need  and  make  us 
strong  for  the  day's  work,  the  promise  is  sure.  The 
habitual  prayer  is  also  indicated  in  the  tense  of  the 
verb — the  word  "ask"  is  in  the  present  tense,  indi- 
cating habit  rather  than  a  single  request  as  the 
aorist  might  imply.  Be  asking,  be  seeking,  be 
knocking,  be  prayerful  and  you  will  also  be  re- 
ceiving. The  flower  looks  up  toward  the  sun  all 
day  long  asking,  and  it  receives  what  it  needs  for 
growth.  Be  prayerful  without  ceasing,  let  the 
whole  look  of  your  life  heavenward  be  expectant, 
and  you  will  receive  in  like  measure. 

This  expectant,  aspiring,  seeking  habit  of  the 
soul  is  made  a  condition  of  receiving  character,  be- 
cause prayer  creates  capacity  for  the  higher  charac- 
ter. God  can  give  to  such  natures  because  there 
is  room  and  readiness.  In  the  story  of  Elisha,  the 
Lord  began  to  pour  out  the  oil  for  the  poor  widow. 
"Bring  me  yet  a  vessel  more,"  He  cried  to  the 
prophet.  "Bring  me  yet  another  vessel."  At  last 
the  report  came  back,  "there  is  not  a  vessel  more." 
Immediately  we  read,  "and  the  oil  stayed."  The 
limitation  came  not  because  there  was  no  more 
oil,  but  because  there  was  no  more  room  to  reT 


18  The  Christian  Platform. 

ceive  it.  It  is  man  that  gives  it  up.  The  blessings 
of  the  Father  are  given  until  the  capacity  to  receive 
is  exhausted.  Therefore,  because  prayer  creates  ca- 
pacity and  because  the  exercise  of  prayer  brings  us 
into  fellowship  with  the  Father,  which  in  itself  de- 
velops character,  it  is  made  the  second  condition 
upon  which  God  bestows  that  gift. 

3.     Trustful  obedience. 

Just  there  Jesus  uttered  a  warning.  The  gaining 
of  this  godly  character  is  not  easy.  "Wide  is  the 
gate  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leads  to  failure  and 
destruction."  Alas  there  are  many  that  go  in  there- 
at! "Strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  way 
that  leadeth  unto  life,"  and  when  Jesus  spoke,  there 
were  few  who  were  finding  it.  Consecration  and 
request  must  be  accompanied  by  trustful  obedience 
to  the  will  of  God,  which  means  a  strait,  narrow, 
definite  path.  I  can  miss  the  mark  by  firing  off  in 
anyone  of  ten  thousand  directions,  for  wide  is  the 
gate  and  broad  is  the  way  that  leads  to  failure.  I 
can  hit  the  mark  only  by  firing  in  one  certain  di- 
rection, for  strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the 
way  that  leads  to  success.  There  must  likewise  be 
conscientious,  painstaking,  definite  obedience  if  we 
would  receive  the  kingdom. 

"Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord, 
shall  enter  the  kingdom."  Some  who  say  Lord, 
Lord,  will  enter— those  that  do  as  well  as  say,  but 
not  everyone.  Jesus  tenderly  but  faithfully  pictured 
the  consternation  and  disappointment  of  some  who 
will  fail  just  here.  They  will  not  all  be  publicans 
and  sinners,  either;  some  of  them  will  be  people 
busy  and  prominent  in  religious  activity.  "Lord, 
have  we  not  prophesied,"  literally  preached,  "in 
Thy  name?"  "In  Thy  name  have  we  not  cast  out 
demons,"  whipping  the  devil  round  the  stump  and 
denouncing  evil  with  energy  and  bitterness?  "In 
thy  name  have  we  not  done  works  that  seemed  to 


The  Christian  Platform.  ig 

us  wonderful?"  He  speaks  as  if  some  preachers  and 
deacons  and  reformers  would  be  refused  and  set 
off  among  the  goats.  "Then  will  I  say  unto  you,  I 
never  knew  you."  The  principle  of  trustful  obe- 
dience would  be  lacking.  Jesus  says,  "If  any  man 
keep  my  words,  my  Father  will  love  him  and  we 
will  come  and  make  our  abode  wth  him."  All  such 
He  and  the  Father  will  know,  but  the  disobedient 
do  not  share  in  that  fellowship.  The  showy,  pre- 
tentious people,  using  the  phrases  of  religion  but 
refusing  its  spirit  of  service  are  openly  refused. 
Thus  we  have  the  three  conditions  upon  which 
character  is  bestowed,  consecration,  request  and 
trustful  obedience. 

Then  before  he  ended  his  sermon,  Jesus  added 
two  corollaries;  he  named  two  other  qualities  that 
would  mark  this  godly  character. 

The  first  was  fruitfulness.  The  man  who  receives 
the  kingdom  brings  forth  good  conduct  as  a 
good  tree  bears  good  fruit.  He  cannot  do 
otherwise.  The  fruit  is  not  tied  on  mechanically 
nor  thrust  out  suddenly  by  special  effort.  It  grows 
out  steadily  and  organically  as  grapes  grow  out  of 
a  grape  vine  or  figs  from  a  fig  tree.  The  resident 
vitalities  within,  the  purpose  of  the  man  in  work- 
ing out  his  own  salvation,  coupled  with  the  fact 
that  God  is  working  in  him,  make  him  fruitful  in 
all  right  conduct.  Wherefore  by  their  fruits — not 
by  their  wood  or  roots  or  leaves,  but  by  what  they 
give  off  to  feed  and  bless  a  needy  world, — ye  shall 
know  them. 

The  second  quality  he  named  was  stability.  "Who- 
soever heareth  these  sayings  of  mine  and  doeth 
them,  is  like  a  wise  man  who  built  his  house  upon 
a  rock."  Hard  tests  came  upon  him  by  forces  be- 
yond his  control — "the  winds  blew,  the  floods 
came,  and  the  waves  beat  upon  that  house,  but  it 
fell  not,  for  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock."  The  law 


20  The  Christian  Platform. 

of  gravitation  and  the  enduring  quality  of  the  foun- 
dation were  on  his  side  helping  him  to  withstand 
the  attack.  "And  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings 
of  mine  and  doeth  them  not  is  like  a  foolish  man 
who  built  his  house  upon  the  sand."  To  him  also 
came  the  same  hard  tests.  The  law  of  gravitation 
and  the  loose  foundation  were  against  him,  and  his 
house  fell.  Obedience  to  and  harmony  with  the 
will  of  God  which  is  wrought  into  the  very  con* 
stitution  of  the  world  we  live  in,  alone  give  sta- 
bility. Fruitfulness  and  stability  are  thus  to  char- 
acterize the  citizens  of  the  kingdom. 

I  have  here  outlined  to  you  "The  Christian  Plat- 
form" as  laid  down  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
You  all  admire  it— there  is  no  passage  of  Scripture 
more  widely  popular.  Are  you  willing  to  under- 
take to  live  by  it?  If  so,  you  will  need  all  the 
further  promises  of  grace  and  truth  that  will  come 
to  us  as  we  continue  our  study  in  this  Gospel  of 
the  Messiah. 


The 

Common  Sense  View 

of 

Heaven  and  Hell 


By 
REV.  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 


KEK    Pill  XTIN'i;    <;<). 
OAKLAND.    <:.M.. 
1901 


"Judas  by  transgression  fell  and  went 
to  his  own  place."  Acts  1:25. 


TTbe  Common  Sense  IDtew  of 
1bea\>en  anfc  1bell.* 


|E  have  here  one  of  the  most  thought- 
ful statements  about  the  future 
destiny  of  an  individual  soul  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  Bible  — 
"Judas  by  transgression  fell  and  went  to  his 
own  place."  It  is  full  of  seriousness  and  of  re- 
serve. Judas  was  dead.  He  had  done  a  great 
wrong — he  was  a  traitor  to  the  Lord  who  loved 
him.  He  had  died  by  his  own  hand — a  wicked 
suicide!  It  is  a  dark  picture  throughout.  A 
smaller  mind  would  have  grown  heated  and 
dogmatic  in  asserting  the  pains  and  torments 
in  store  for  Judas.  But  this  inspired  writer  is 
too  wise  and  too  Christian  for  that.  The 
sober  reserve  as  well  as  the  seriousness  of  his 
statement  is  impressive.  He  makes  no  attempt 
to  give  us  a  map  of  the  situation  in  which 
Judas  would  find  himself.  He  does  not  pre- 
tend to  know — "Judas  by  transgression  fell 
and  went  to  his  own  place." 

These  words  of  scripture  furnish  the  princi- 
ple on  which  I  shall  seek  to  build.  They  give 
us,  I  believe,  the  common  sense  view  of 
Heaven  and  Hell.  Every  man  goes  to  his 

*  The  last  in  a  series  of  eight  addresses  on  "Common  Sense 
in  Religion." 


THE  COMMON   SENSE  VIEW 


own  place  in  the  world  to  come  even  as  he  is 
constantly  being  forced  into  his  own  place  in 
this  world.  Purpose,  character,  fitness  are  the 
determining  forces  and  they  constantly  tend 
to  bring  the  man  where  he  belongs. 

The  two  elements  of  seriousness  and  reserve 
both  stand  out  clear  in  Luke's  statement. 
There  is  no  smoothing  over  or  brushing  away 
the  fact  of  Judas'  guilt.  There  is  no  shallow 
assumption  that  because  God  is  so  good,  all 
men  will  surely  be  saved.  The  assertion  of 
such  a  certainty  in  the  face  of  all  the  impu- 
dent and  persistent  wickedness  about  us  is  an 
amazing  piece  of  dogmatism.  The  burden  of 
sinful  purpose  and  guilt  which  Judas  bore  with 
him  out  of  the  world  is  allowed  to  rest  upon 
him  unrelieved  by  any  light-hearted  flourishes 
— "Judas  by  transgression  fell  and  went  to  his 
own  place." 

There  is  at  the  same  time  the  utmost  reserve 
—  "he  went  to  his  own  place."  What  was 
it  ?  Endless  pain,  extinction  of  being,  punish- 
ment severe  but  disciplinarj',  and  calculated  to 
bring  him  out  a  changed  man  ?  Luke  does 
not  attempt  to  say.  None  of  the  apostles, 
although  they  lived  under  the  immediate 
tuition  of  Christ  and  were  personal  witnesses 
of  the  betrayal,  made  bold  to  indicate  more 
closely  the  fate  of  Judas.  They  are  content 
to  believe  that  "the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will 
do  right."  Their  reserve  as  well  as  their  se- 


OF   HEAVEN    AND    HELL 


riousness  would  furnish  a  helpful  example 
to  us  all. 

This  sermon  therefore  will  be  one  for  serious 
people.  If  any  have  come  in  a  frivolous, 
trifling  mood,  counting  wrong  doing  a  light 
thing,  and  making  small  difference  between 
the  fate  of  the  good  and  the  evil  because  they 
think  God  is  too  kind  to  hurt  anyone,  they 
will  be  disappointed.  Moral  evil  is  an  awful 
fact !  The  willingness  of  men  and  women  to 
continue  in  it  is  terrible  !  The  very  constitu- 
tion of  things  is  a  consuming  fire  for  all  diso- 
bedience. Nature  is  aflame  with  indignation 
toward  all  transgression.  The  unholy  bent 
and  trend  in  the  life  utters  no  comforting 
prophecy  for  the  future.  It  is  not  safe  for  any 
man  to  live  in  his  sins  nor  safe  for  him  to  die 
in  his  sins.  The  common  sense  of  mankind 
and  the  teachings  of  scripture  unite  in  regard- 
ing the  consent  of  any  heart  to  wrong  as  being 
serious  and  awful. 

The  sermon  will  also  be  for  those  who  are 
guarded  in  the  claims  they  make.  If  any 
have  come  in  a  curious,  impertinent  mood, 
hoping  perchance  to  get  a  peep  through  the 
crack  in  the  door  into  the  sacred  precincts  of 
another  world,  they  also  will  be  disappointed. 
What  I  do  not  know  about  the  details  of 
heaven  and  hell  would  fill  a  large  library. 
The  guilty  man  died  and  went  to  his  own 
place.  He  went  where  the  justice  of  God 


THE  COMMON    SENSE   VIEW 


which  is  merciful  and  where  the  mercy  of  God 
which  is  just  in  its  distinctions,  would  inevita- 
bly place  him.  He  went  to  such  a  situation 
as  the  moral  interest  of  God  in  mankind,  as  a 
whole,  would  appoint  for  him.  There  Luke 
left  him  and  there  we  must. 

But  eager  minds  press  upon  us  with  their 
questions  as  to  the  duration  of  punishment,  as 
to  the  outcome  of  the  moral  processes  at  work 
here  and  hereafter.  What  beliefs  are  we  as 
common  sense  men  and  women  warranted  in 
holding  touching  these  points  ? 

There  are  three  main  views  that  divide  the 
field  between  them. 

First,  that  at  death  all  men  are  divided  into 
two  classes,  the  one  destined  for  endless  and 
unspeakable  bliss,  the  other  for  everlasting 
loss  and  pain.  This  view  rests  mainly  on  the 
parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  on  the 
statement  made  in  Matthew:  ''These  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the 
righteous  into  life  eternal,''  and  upon  certain 
passages  in  the  book  of  Revelation. 

I  do  not  believe  there  are  sufficient  grounds 
for  affirming  it  as  an  article  of  faith.  The 
gorgeous  images  of  the  book  of  Revelation  are 
stated  by  their  author  to  be  pictures  ot  "things 
which  were  shortly  to  come  to  pass. ' '  The 
city  of  God  embodying  the  perfect  society  was 
"to  come  down  out  of  Heaven  from  God' '  and 


OF   HEAVEN    AND   HELL 


be  established  on  the  earth.  The  series  of 
judgments  were  to  be  wrought  out  in  historic 
events  not  far  removed.  The  light  that  it 
sheds  therefore  upon  the  final  destiny  of  bad 
men  is  very  slight. 

The  parable  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus  is 
confessedly  an  incomplete  picture  drawn  for  a 
special  purpose.  It  was  spoken  to  rebuke  the 
Jews  for  their  selfish  misuse  of  rich  moral  op- 
portunities and  to  make  a  plea  for  the  poor 
Gentile  world  lying  at  the  gate  thankful  even 
for  crumbs  of  moral  revelation.  The  in- 
humanity of  those  who  allowed  poor  sick  beg- 
gars to  lie  unhelped  at  the  gate  whether  taken 
as  re  presenting  material  or  spiritual  selfishness, 
deserves  and  receives  sore  punishment.  Noth- 
ing is  stated  however  as  to  the  moral  character 
of  Lazarus  and  he  finds  himself  after  death  not 
in  the  heaven  of  modern  theology  but  "in 
Abraham's  bosom,  "  in  the  place  of  highest 
honor  according  to  Jewish  estimate.  The  fact 
that  converse  was  held  from  that  point  with 
the  rich  man  in  his  place  of  pain,  the  remain- 
ing moral  interest  of  the  condemned  man  in 
his  five  brothers,  and  his  commendable  desire 
to  do  something  for  their  safety,  all  point  to 
the  fact  that  we  have  here  an  incomplete  pic- 
ture, intended  to  censure  the  inhuman  and 
selfish  contempt  of  the  Jews  rich  in  spiritual 
privilege,  for  the  impoverished  publicans  and 
sinners  at  their  gate,  but  not  intended  to  serve 


10  THE   COMMON    SENSE   VIEW 

as  a  map  of  the  future  destinies  of  the  mass  of 
mankind. 

The  word  translated  "everlasting"  in  the 
statement  from  Matthew,  does  not  mean  end- 
less. The  Greeks  had  a  word  for  endless 
which  we  find  used  in  the  New  Testament 
when  the  endless  existence  of  God  is  named, 
but  that  term  is  not  employed  here.  The 
word  is  "aeonian, "  age  long,  with  no  attempt 
to  fix  its  limit  in  years  or  to  convey  the  idea 
of  endlessness.  The  wicked  went  away  into 
the  period  of  punishment  which  was  to  endure 
through  that  age  but  no  effort  is  made  to  fix 
its  limits.  Endless  loss  and  pain  may  possibly 
be  the  lot  of  some — I  am  not  wise  enough  to 
assert  that  it  will  not  be  so — but  that  is  not 
taught  in  this  passage. 

The  theory  as  a  whole  seems  unreasonable. 
A  million  different  conditions  for  men  here  and 
as  many  different  degrees  of  moral  fidelity  or 
infidelity,  and  only  two  conditions  there — it 
sounds  irrational  !  But  rejoinder  is  made 
that  there  will  be  degrees  in  heaven  and  in 
hell.  Then  if  it  is  graduated  as  are  the  char- 
acters of  men  here,  the  lowest  stages  of  heaven 
might  not  be  far  removed  above,;  the  mildest 
levels  of  hell.  A  more  rational  theory  as  to 
the  future  world  seems  to  be  gained  by  this 
shift,  but  the  old  view  of  two  classes  and  two 
places  at  an  almost  infinite  remove,  is  gone. 

Then  the  difficulty  of  dividing  the  race  into 


OF   HEAVEN   AND   HELL  II 


just  two  camps  seems  insurmountable  even  to 
absolute  intelligence.  Has  any  individual 
been  so  good  as  to  deserve  a  heaven  where  he 
will  be  insured  against  the  possibility  of  wrong 
or  pain  ?  Has  any  wrought  evil  enough  to  be 
excluded  forever  from  the  possibility  of  moral 
improvement  or  peace  ?  And  how  would  they 
be  divided  ?  If  judged  by  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body,  according  to  Paul,  men  shade  all 
the  way  up  and  down  in  their  well  doing 
and  their  evil  doing, — where  would  you 
draw  a  line  that  would  justly  serve  as  the 
point  of  such  demarcation  in  privilege  ?  Or  if 
judged  by  their  trust  in  the  mercy  of  God  in 
Christ  what  degree  of  trust  will  admit  or  ex- 
clude? Many  have  the  faint  glimmerings  of 
a  trust  in  Christ  and  from  that  unavowed  be- 
ginning the  attitude  shades  all  the  way  up 
into  rational  faith  and  all  the  way  down  into 
ignorant  or  wilful  refusal  of  all  the  divine 
overtures . 

And  then  the  moral  environment  and  the 
opportunities  of  men  vary  even  in  Christian 
lands,  through  all  shades  of  helpfulness  down 
into  positive  hostility.  A  conservative  theo- 
logical professor  passed  a  public  house  in  Lon- 
don and  saw  women  as  well  as  men  drinking 
at  the  bar.  Some  of  the  women  had  infants 
in  their  arms,  and  when  the  babies  cried,  the 
wicked  mothers  held  up  the  glasses  of  liquor 
to  the  little  lips.  The  children  took  it  eagerly 


12  THE    COMMON    SENSE   VIEW 


for  they  had  learned  to  like  the  stupefying 
effects  of  the  liquor.  "Sights  like  that," 
said  the  professor,  '  'undermine  all  our  theories 
about  future  punishment." 

What  if  those  children  grow  up  to  have  un- 
natural appetites,  unholy  passions,  perverted 
instincts  and  are  overtaken  in  crime?  Have 
they  had  in  all  their  lives  anything  like  a 
moral  probation  ?  Born  into  the  world  ? 
Damned  into  the  world !  The  child  born  in 
the  slums,  unable  to  choose  its  parents,  con- 
ceived in  immorality  perchance,  unable  to 
choose  or  change  its  early  environment,  un- 
able to  choose  even  whether  he  would  be  born 
at  all  or  not — does  any  one  call  that  a  proba- 
tion on  which  the  issues  of  all  eternity  are  to 
hinge?  Was  such  a  life  ever  brought  face  to 
face  with  the  mercy  and  the  purpose  of  God 
for  man  ?  Such  an  one  might  possibly  have 
gone  in  his  maturity  to  hear  the  gospel  mes- 
sage, and  have  heeded  it.  But  in  his  situation 
would  you,  would  I  ?  The  accident  of  death 
may  overtake  him  in  an  instant  as  he  toils  in 
the  mine  or  does  the  rough,  rude  work  in  some 
dark  space  in  the  city's  life.  And  then  shall 
we  say  he  is  cast  off  into  everlasting  torment 
because  he  is  a  moral  failure  ? 

But  the  claim  is  made  that  all  men  are 
judged  according  to  the  use  they  have  made 
of  such  moral  opportunities  as  they  had.  This 
seems  just,  but  it  would  produce  singular  re- 


OF    HEAVEN    AND    HELI,  13 


suits  when  applied  to  the  separation  of  all 
souls  into  the  two  classes.  A  man  in  the 
slums  with  poor  opportunities,  who  made 
faithful  use  of  them,  might  find  himself  in 
heaven,  and  another  man  living  in  the  high 
noon  of  Christian  opportunity,  with  wide  open 
privileges  on  every  side,  might  attain  to  some 
considerable  degree  of  Christian  character,  but 
not  be  faithful  to  all  opportunities,  because 
they  were  so  many;  and  he  would  then  find 
himself  in  hell.  In  that  event  hell  would 
contain  people  better  than  some  of  those  in 
heaven. 

The  many  anomalies  and  moral  contradic- 
tions that  arise  when  we  seek  to  apply  such  a 
theory  of  the  future  to  actual  facts  and  to  fill  in 
its  demands  with  the  concrete  lives  of  those  we 
know  and  love,  are  such  as  to  array  the  reason 
and  conscience  of  many  Christians  against  it. 
This  taken  with  the  fact  that  it  is  so  slenderly 
supported  by  any  honest  interpretation  of  the 
trend  and  drift  of  Scripture,  inclines  the  great 
majority  of  thoughtful  Christians  to  shrink 
from  affirming  it  as  an  article  of  personal 
belief. 

The  second  view  is  that  of  the  annihilation 
of  the  wicked.  Baldly  stated  it  means  that  the 
moral  failures  of  the  world  are  blotted  out. 
The  gentler  phrasing  of  it  asserts  that  man 
is  by  nature  mortal,  but  he  receives  immortal- 


14  THE  COMMON  SENSE  VIEW 

ity  as  a  gift  of  God  through  personal  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  aristocratic  view  of 
immortality — endless  life  becomes  the  privilege 
of  those  who  are  morally  successful,  by  reason 
of  birth,  inheritance,  environment  and  right 
personal  choice. 

The  Scripture  passages  cited  in  support  of 
it  are  such  as  these:  "the  wages  of  sin  is 
death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  "  He  that 
hath  the  Son  hath  life  and  he  that  hath  not 
the  Son  hath  not  life."  "God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life."  The  fact  is  also 
cited  that  the  tares,  the  chaff  and  the  fruitless 
branches  were  all  burned  up,  indicating  total 
extinction  rather  than  eternal  suffering. 

This  theory  is  certainly  more  humane  than 
the  first.  It  is  the  scientific  doctrine  of  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  carried  into  morals.  But 
it  seems  to  be  out  of  harmony  with  that  moral 
interest  of  God  in  men  which  prompted  him 
to  send  his  Son  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
is  lost.  And  its  treatment  of  scripture  is  too 
literal  to  be  fair.  The  terms  translated  ' '  per- 
ish "  and  "dead"  do  not  mean  extinction. 
The  father  of  the  runaway  boy  in  the  parable 
said,  "  this  my  son  was  dead  and  is  alive 
again;  he  was  lost  and  is  found."  The  term 
"  lost ' '  is  the  same  word  translated  in  many 


OF    HEAVEN    AND    HFLL  15 


other  passages  "  perish. "  So  "perish"  and 
"  dead  "  evidently  do  not  mean  extinction,  for 
the  "lost"  and  "dead"  son  had  been  in  ex- 
istence all  the  while  though  it  was  in  a  low, 
wicked  kind  of  existence  alienated  from  his 
father.  And  the  phrase  "  eternal  life  "  as  used 
in  scripture  does  not  mean  mere  endless  be- 
ing— it  means  "enriched  and  elevated  being  as 
worthy  and  glorious  as  it  is  endless. " 

The  rough  and  ready  way  in  which  the 
great  masses  of  our  fellow  beings  are  handed 
over  to  destruction  by  this  view  because  they 
have  not  made  greater  attainments  in  right- 
eousness, while  blessed  immortality  is  reserved 
for  the  morally  successful,  seems  an  affront  to 
our  sense  of  Christian  humanity.  It  seems  to 
contradict  the  redemptive  passion  of  Christ. 
Thus  from  scripture  and  from  the  claims  of 
Christian  benevolence  so  many  opposing  con- 
siderations arise  that  only  a  small  percentage 
of  Christian  people  has  ever  adopted  this 
theory. 

The  third  view  is  that  of  confident  univer- 
salism.  This  does  not  mean  "  death  and  glory 
for  all ' '  as  was  taught  in  the  days  of  Hosea 
Ballou.  Universalists  no  longer  believe  that 
all  men  are  sufficiently  punished  in  this  life 
and  that  when  they  die  they  go  at  once  to 
heaven.  The  current  universalism  claims 
that  every  man  reaps  what  he  sows  here  or 


16  THE  COMMON  SENSE  VIEW 

hereafter  and  goes  on  reaping  it  until  by  the 
tuition  of  such  experience,  he  is  led  to  change 
the  crop.  Hell  is  reformatory  and  as  men  re- 
spond to  corrective  treatment  they  are  par- 
doned out  and  admitted  to  the  company  of  the 
righteous.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
its  doctrine  of  purgatory  has  made  similar 
provision  although  it  limits  the  disciplinary  op- 
portunities to  baptized  Catholics  who  die  in 
their  sins.  Retribution  according  to  this  third 
view  works  in  the  interests  of  divine  grace  and 
the  hard  experience  it  brings  serves  to  ac- 
complish what  gentler  methods  here  on  earth 
did  not  achieve.  And  at  last  because  God  is 
greater  than  sinful  men  and  because  his  per- 
suasions to  righteousness  are  inexhaustible, 
"  grace  will  abound  where  sin  did  once 
abound,' '  and  all  men  will  be  saved  by  being 
reclaimed  to  holiness. 

The  scripture  passages  cited  in  support  of 
this  theory  are  such  as  these:  i4  As  in  Adam 
all  die  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive  " 
the  effect  of  redemption  to  be  as  universal  as 
the  effects  of  transgression.  Paul  also  speaks 
of  a  time  when  ''every  knee  shall  bow  and 
every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
Lord  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  earth 
and  things  under  the  earth;"  and  inasmuch 
as  we  are  told  that  "  no  man  can  say  Jesus  is 
Lord  except  in  the  Holy  Ghost, "  this  indi- 
cates a  universe  entirely  redeemed  with  no 


OF    HEAVEN    AND    HKLL 


outlying  portion  in  rebellion.  And  Peter 
speaks  of  "  the  times  of  restitution  or  restora- 
tion of  all  things."  Jesus  said  the  good  shep 
herd  goeth  after  the  lost  sheep  "  until  he  finds 
it" — he  does  not  come  back  without  it.  And 
his  sanguine  expectation  was  voiced  in  the 
words,  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  He  is  called 
"the  propitiation  for  our  sins  and  not  for  ours 
only  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." 
He  is  called  "the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world,"  indicating  the 
complete  success  of  his  redemption. 

There  is  something  winsome  and  courageous 
about  this  view.  It  is  "the  gospel  of  the 
larger  hope. "  I  would  give  a  great  deal  to  be 
able  to  confidently  believe  it.  Who  would  not  ? 
It  has  been  widely  preached  by  the  poets. 
Tennyson  sang  it  in  his  u  In  Memoriam.  " 

"  Oh  yet  we  trust  that  somehow  good 
Will  be  the  final  goal  of  ill. 

That  nothing  walks  with  aimless  feet, 
That  not  one  life  shall  be  destroyed 
Or  cast  as  rubbish  to  the  void 

When  God  hath  made  the  pile  complete." 

And  the  good  Quaker  poet  Whittier,  out  of 
a  heart  filled  Christian  humanity  has  sung  his 
song: 


l8  THE  COMMON   SENSE  VIEW 

' '  I  know  not  what  the  future  hath 

Of  marvel  or  surprise 
Assured  alone  that  life  and  death 
His  mercy  underlies. 

I  know  not  where  his  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air, 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  his  love  and  care. 

And  so  beside  the  silent  sea 

I  wait  the  muffled  oar, 
No  harm  from  Him  can  come  to  me 

On  ocean  or  on  shore." 

I  hope  it  may  all  turn  out  to  be  true,  but  I 
cannot  affirm  it  as  a  positive  belief.  In  the 
face  of  so  much  willing,  deliberate,  persistent 
refusal  of  God's  mercy  in  Christ,  I  cannot  pre- 
dict holiness  as  the  certain  outcome  of  all 
these  lives.  The  widespread  failure  in  the 
physical  world  seems  to  find  a  counterpart  in 
the  abundant  moral  failure.  And  the  solemn 
words  of  Christ  himself !  His  tenderness  was 
infinite  and  his  confidence  in  the  success  of  his 
own  redemptive  efforts  as  great  as  ours  dare 
be,  yet  he  spoke  the  most  solemn  words 
found  in  scripture  touching  the  outcome  of 
evil  choices.  He  said  of  one  unrepentant  soul, 
"  Woe  unto  the  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  Man 
is  betrayed,  it  had  been  good  for  that  man  if 
he  Had  not  been  born."  He  speaks  of  moral 
failure  that  passes  beyond  remedy — unfruit- 
ful branches  cut  off  and  burned  up;  tares  and 
chaff  separated  from  the  wheat  and  destroyed; 


OF   HEAVEN    AND    HELL  19 

houses  built  upon  the  sands  of  unrighteous- 
ness and  ungodliness  swept  away;  the  unfaith- 
ful use  of  talent  and  opportunity  resulting  in 
total  loss. 

There  are  those  who  would  lightly  claim 
that  Christ  did  not  know  but  was  only  giving 
his  opinion.  I  cannot  hold  with  them  but 
were  this  true,  then  it  would  be  Christ's  opin- 
ion against  our  own.  From  all  we  know  of 
Him  and  of  ourselves,  who  is  most  likely  to  be 
correct?  I  should  rather  trust  his  explicit 
statement  than  to  consult  my  own  personal 
judgment  or  the  unstudied  instincts  of  my 
own  heart.  And  surely  the  support  of 
Christ's  statements,  taking  them  in  their  main 
conclusions,  cannot  be  quoted  in  support  of 
confident  universalism. 

If  then  scripture  does  not  by  any  honest  in- 
terpretation teach  clearly  and  exclusively  any 
one  theory  as  to  the  future  outcome  of  moral 
judgments,  and  if  the  considerations  of  moral 
reason  and  the  general  indications  of  the  facts 
of  life,  do  not  point  to  any  one  definite  view, 
where  shall  the  man  of  common  sense  stand? 
It  seems  to  me  that  we  must  come  back  to 
the  simplicity  of  the  great  principle  announced 
in  the  text.  We  hold  fast  to  the  seriousness 
of  wrong  doing;  we  dare  not  limit  its  conse- 
quences by  any  lighthearted  theories  as  to  the 
future.  And  we  hold  also  to  the  reserve  of 


2O  THE    COMMON    SENSE   VIEW 


that  text:  we  cannot  affirm  in  detail  the  final 
issue.  "  Judas  by  transgression  fell  and  went 
to  his  own  place."  In  this  mood  of  combined 
seriousness  and  reserve,  we  await  the  fuller 
revelation  of  the  ends  to  be  accomplished  by 
the  judgment  of  God. 

We  think  of  heaven  not  so  much  as  being  a 
place  but  as  indicating  a  quality  of  life.  ' '  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  "  is  the  life  of  reverence, 
trust,  obedience  toward  God  and  of  good  will, 
usefulness,  fellowship  in  our  relations  with 
men.  ''The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within 
you, ' '  Jesus  said  to  a  group  of  men  who  were 
living  that  life.  As  men  enter  into  that  life 
they  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  in  any 
world  where  God  may  bring  them  they  will 
be  in  heaven  by  being  what  they  are. 

It  is  idle  to  speculate  on  the  occupations  or 
interests  of  a  future  heaven.  The  picture  of 
God  sitting  on  a  throne  surrounded  by  his 
saints  who  spend  eternity  singing  his  praise 
and  playing  their  harps,  does  not  elicit  moral 
energy.  It  is  neither  attractive  nor  stimulat- 
ing. Men  who  have  been  building  Brooklyn 
bridges,  launching  ships  of  twenty  thousand 
tons  burden,  managing  trunk  lines  of  railroad 
that  span  a  continent,  controlling  great  uni- 
versities where  thousands  of  students  gather, 
writing  books  that  revolutionize  the  thought 
of  a  century,  conducting  strenuous  movements 
against  evil  and  for  the  upbuilding  of  the 


OF    HEAVEN    AND    HF.I.L 


race, — these  men  are  not  won  by  such  a  placid 
picture.  For  them  to  thus  spend  a  single  year, 
saying  nothing  of  eternity,  would  be  in- 
supportable. Whatever  the  future  heaven  may 
be,  we  may  rest  assured  that  it  will  not  mean 
less  life  but  more,  not  monotony  or  stagnation 
but  eager,  unhindered  service  and  growth.  The 
Son  of  Man  came  that  we  might  have  life  and 
have  it  ever  more  abundantly,  in  a  career  of 
unending  progress.  Let  the  spirit  and  method 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  become  the  dominant 
force  in  the  life  and  then  the  man  is  fitted  for 
such  forms  of  usefulness  and  joy  as  lie  farther 
on  in  the  good  providence  of  God. 

And  hell  is  a  name  for  a  quality  of  life 
rather  than  the  designation  of  a  locality.  You 
will  find  outlying  districts  of  a  real  hell  in  the 
slums  of  our  cities  now.  You  will  find  simi- 
lar portions  of  hell  under  elegant  surroundings 
but  equally  foul  where  luxurious  vice  is  work- 
ing the  degradation  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood. You  will  find  hell  in  certain  homes 
ruled  by  hate,  suspicion  and  unfaithfulness 
rather  than  by  fidelity  and  love.  Wherever 
you  find  the  image  and  likeness  of  God  not 
emerging  but  being  effaced  in  human  lives, 
there  you  find  the  facts  that  constitute  hell. 
Let  people  who  are  willingly  living  thus  go 
here  or  there  or  into  a  future  world,  they 
carry  their  hell  with  them,  for  they  are  hell. 
The  legitimate,  inevitable,  automatic  conse- 


THE  COMMON   SENSE   VIEW 


quence  of  persistent  evil,  of  unyielding  oppo- 
sition to  the  will  of  God,  is  hell  in  all  its 
horror  and  ugliness. 

There  are  teachers  of  religion  who  can  say 
much  more  than  this  about  hell.  It  may  be 
that  information  has  been  put  in  their  hands 
that  has  not  come  to  the  rest  of  us.  You  have 
sometimes  heard  such  words  as  these;  they 
are  taken  from  the  published  writings  of  a 
celebrated  preacher  and  were  originally  spoken 
to  an  immense  congregation  in  the  city  of 
London: 

"  When  thou  diest  thy  soul  will  be  tor- 
mented alone — that  will  be  a  hell  for  it — but 
at  the  day  of  judgment  thy  body  will  join  thy 
soul  and  then  thou  shalt  have  twin  hells; 
body  and  soul  shall  be  together,  each  brimful 
of  pain,  thy  soul  sweating  in  its  inmost  pores 
drops  of  blood,  and  thy  body  from  head  to  foot 
suffused  with  agony;  conscience,  judgment, 
memory  all  tortured;  but  more  thy  head  tor- 
mented with  racking  pains,  thine  eyes  start- 
ing from  their  sockets  with  sights  of  blood, 
thine  ears  tormented  with  sullen  moans  and 
hollow  groans  and  shrieks  of  tortured  ghosts; 
thine  heart  beating  high  with  fever;  thy  pulse 
rattling  at  an  enormous  rate  in  agony;  thy 
limbs  crackling  like  the  martyrs  in  the  fire 
and  yet  unburnt;  thyself  put  in  a  vessel  of 
hot  oil,  pained  yet  coming  out  undestroyed; 
all  thy  veins  becoming  a  road  for  the  hot  feet 


OF    HEAVEN   AND    HKLL  23 


of  pain  to  travel  on;  every  nerve  a  string  on 
which  the  devil  shall  ever  play  his  diabolical 

tune lof  hell's  unutterable  lament Many 

of  you  will  go  away  and  laugh  and  call  me,  as 
I  remember  being  called  once  before  a  'a  hell- 
fire  parson.'  Well  go;  but  you  will  see  the 
hell-fire  preacher  one  day  in  heaven  and  you 
yourselves  will  be  cast  out;  and  looking  down 
thence  with  reproving  glance,  it  may  be  that 
I  shall  remind  you  that  you  heard  the  word 
and  listened  not  to  it.  You  listen  to  me  now 
unmoved;  it  will  be  harder  work  when  death 
gets  hold  of  you  and  you  lie  roasting  in  the 
fire."* 

All  this  from  Charles  H.  Spurgeon,  one  of 
the  celebrated  preachers  of  our  time!  It  was 
no  hasty  utterance  that  a  man  preaching  with- 
out manuscript  might  unguardedly  make;  it 
was  written  down  with  his  own  right  hand 
and  published  for  wide  circulation  with  his 
signature  on  the  title  page.  The  gross 
materalismand  savage  cruelty  offends  us  much 
and  the  raw,  dogmatic  assumption  offends  us 
more.  How  did  he  know  all  that  ?  The  ugly 
assurance  touching  the  destinies  of  those  men 
before  him  and  the  assumption  that  he  might 
stand  in  safety  and  look  upon  their  pain,  say- 
ing "  I  told  you  so"  is  far  away  from  the 
atmosphere  of  the  New  Testament.  He  was 
a  man  useful  in  spite  of  and  not  because  of 

*  Spurgeon's  Sermons,  Vol.  II,  p.  275. 


24  THE   COMMON    SENSE   VIEW 


some  of  his  teaching.  The  passage  quoted 
would  tend  to  drive  hundreds  of  thoughtful 
people  off  into  total  unbelief  as  to  the  value  of 
revealed  religion. 

The  ignorant  assumption  rather  than  the 
severity  of  the  judgment  upon  wrong  doing  is 
what  offends  us  most.  I  have  heard  David 
Starr  Jordan  in  his  lectures  at  Stanford  preach 
sermons  on  the  consequences  of  disobedience 
more  searching  and  severe  than  any  of  those 
commonly  heard  from  Christian  pulpits.  He 
took  his  text  from  the  facts  of  biology  as  they 
were  laid  bare  in  the  laboratory.  There  goes 
on  in  every  man  a  self-registering  process  of 
judgment  by  which  the  results  of  acts,  words 
and  choices  are  written  in  the  book  of  his 
own  nature.  This  he  must  face  and  bear; 
from  this  there  is  no  escape  by  any  sort  of 
theological  fiction. 

The  students  in  a  medical  school  were  in  the 
museum  with  their  professor.  He  pointed  out 
in  the  specimens  the  physical  results  of  cer. 
tain  forms  of  vice.  ' '  Almighty  God  writes  a 
very  plain  hand, "  he  remarked.  Almighty 
God  certainly  does  and  his  signature  upon 
those  loathsome  specimens  shows  what  he 
thinks  of  vice.  It  is  a  straight,  honest,  exact 
world  in  which  we  live,  and  the  seriousness  of 
wrong  doing  can  scarcely  be  over  stated. 

The  easy  claim  that  God  is  too  loving  to 
punish  severely  goes  wide  of  the  mark.  Love 


OF    HEAVEN    AND    HEIvL  25 


is  sometimes  austere — must  be  austere  to  be 
love.  If  your  fifteen  year  old  boy  swore  in 
your  presence,  insulted  his  mother,  used  vul- 
gar language  before  his  sisters,  announced 
that  he  had  taken  up  associates  whom  you 
knew  to  be  vile,  your  very  love  would  be 
austere.  Some  low  indifferent  fellow  might 
laugh  at  the  boy  as  "sowing  his  wild  oats" 
and  "learning  the  way  of  the  world' '  but  the 
whole  strength  of  your  loving,  moral  nature 
would  oppose  him  in  his  course.  You  would 
allow,  you  would  even  compel  him  to  suffer 
rather  than  have  him  persist  in  evil.  You 
can  think  of  a  state  of  vice  in  an  older  son, 
persisted  in  and  made  flagrant  that  might 
necessitate  his  separation  from  your  other 
children.  Your  love  would  compel  this 
course.  The  principle  therefore  of  austerity, 
of  punishment,  of  possible  separation  runs  all 
the  way  down  into  the  moral  government  of 
home  life  on  earth  and  it  runs  all  the  way  up 
into  the  moral  government  of  the  Eternal 
Father  from  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  on  earth  is  named. 

The  abiding  principles  then  that  should 
control  our  thinking  of  the  future  world  must 
contain  both  the  seriousness  and  the  reserve 
of  the  text.  The  boundaries  of  any  detailed 
knowledge  of  heaven  or  of  hell  are  soon  reached. 
It  is  incumbent  upon  us  to  be  faithful  to  our 
ignorance  and  stop  asserting  when  the  facts 


26  THK    COMMON    SENSE    VIEW 


stop.  We  cannot  therefore  map  out  the 
regions  of  human  experience  that  lie  beyond 
our  ken.  But  we  know  beyond  a  peradventure 
that  misery  springs  out  of  wrong  doing  as  the 
plant  from  the  seed.  Retribution  follows 
disobedience  naturally  and  therefore  inevita- 
bly. Punishment  will  last  as  long  as  sin  lasts 
and  nothing  but  holiness  can  see  the  face  or 
share  the  joy  of  the  Father. 

Without  venturing  where  we  do  not  know, 
but  holding  strictly  to  the  principle  of  reserve 
it  is  certainly  reasonable  and  scriptural  for  us 
to  maintain  these  three  propositions: 

We  may  feel  sure  from  our  knowledge  of 
the  divine  integrity  and  the  permanence  of 
God's  moral  interest  in  man's  welfare  that 
every  human  being  will  have  the  fullest  op- 
portunity to  attain  the  object  of  his  creation 
which  a  just  God,  who  desires  that  end  above 
all  things,  can  possibly  give  him. 

We  may  feel  sure  that  every  human  being 
will  receive  from  the  providential  ordering  of 
circumstances,  from  the  revelation  God  makes 
of  Himself,  and  from  the  direct  persuasions  of 
the  Spirit,  all  the  impelling  influence  to  turn 
him  to  righteousness  that  his  nature  can  bear 
and  still  retain  its  freedom  of  choice. 

We  may  feel  sure  that  no  human  life  will 
ever  be  given  over  to  perish  or  to  suffer  end- 


OF   HEAVEN    AND    HELL  27 


less  loss,  while  God  can  see  any  possibility  of 
its  recovery  to  righteousness. 

These  three  great  confidences,  not  original 
with  me  but  urged  by  many  teachers  of  relig- 
ion as  axioms  of  judgment  taken  from  the 
character  of  God  as  revealed  in  Christ,  who 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost,  fill  us  with 
courage  and  they  give  us  a  gospel  of  good 
news  for  all  the  children  of  men. 


the  Poem  of  the  Creation. 


"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth. ' '  Gen .  i:  I. 

OU  are  all  aware  that  the  general  method 
of  Bible  study  has  changed  in  recent  years. 
The  conclusions  of  this  modern,  critical 
study  are  by  no  means  all  of  them  final, 
but  the  method  is  here  to  stay.  The  schools  for  the 
training  of  ministers  have  adjusted  themselves  to 
that  fact  and  the  more  intelligent  churches  are  do- 
ing likewise. 

This  method  is  the  result  mainly  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  literary  study  to  the  Bible 
and  of  the  more  constant  presence  of  the  historical 
spirit.  Whatever  else  the  Bible  may  be,  it  certainly 
contains  the  select  and  enduring  remains  of  a  He- 
brew literature  and  must  therefore  be  studied  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  literary  composition  and 
interpretation.  The  same  necessity  exists  for  the 
resolute  application  of  the  historical  spirit.  The  Bi- 
ble did  not  fall  from  the  clouds  ready  made — it 
grew.  The  life  of  the  people  it  portrays  had  its 
long  and  suggestive  history.  The  institutions  it  de- 
scribes had  their  periods  of  development.  The  sys- 
tems of  religious  thought  unfolded  here  were  the 
result  of  continued  observation  and  reflection.  So 
that  men  no  longer  sit  down  to  the  Bible  as  to  "one 
solid  block  of  inspired  truth,"  equally  authoritative 
and  equally  valuable  in  every  part.  They  turn  the 
leaves  reverently  but  with  the  genuinely  historical 
spirit  observing  throughout  the  law  of  development. 
They  bear  in  mind  that  Christ  Himself  indicated 


*This  sermon  and  the  one  following  on  "The  Story  of  the 
Garden  of  Eden  "  were  preached  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  Oakland,  California,  in  a  series  of  ten  sermons  on  the 
general  theme,  The  Modern  View  of  Early  Bible  Narrative* 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


the  method  of  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom — here 
a  blade  of  divine  truth,  then  in  later  portions  'the 
ear'  and  only  in  the  ripest  parts  'the  full  corn  in  the 
ear'.  The  truer  literary  sense  and  the  more  thor- 
oughgoing historical  spirit  are  mainly  responsible 
for  the  modern  method  of  Bible  study,  which,  I 
repeat,  has  come  to  stay. 

Regarding  the  Bible  then  as  a  literature  which 
gives  us  a  divine  revelation  made  through  a  genu- 
inely historical  process,  we  shall  not  attempt  to 
read  it  as  we  would  read  an  arithmetic  or  a  spelling 
book.  It  is  an  oriental  book,  written  by 
oriental  hands  for  oriental  minds — trans- 
lation and  interpretation  are  needed  to  find 
its  true  meaning.  It  was  written,  the  latest  of 
it,  eighteen  centuries  ago  and  the  earlier  portions 
twenty-five  to  thirty  centuries  ago — modes  of 
thought  and  expression  change  radically  during 
such  long  periods.  It  was  written  with  a  distinct 
purpose,  viz. :  moral  and  religious  help — we  shall  be 
disappointed  therefore  if  we  open  it  expecting  to 
be  taught  how  to  make  telephones  or  expecting 
the  latest  truths  of  geology  or  astronomy.  It  does 
not  claim  these  fields  for  itself — "all  scripture  given 
by  inspiration  of  God  is  profitable  for  teaching,  for 
reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness that  the  man  of  God  may  be  thoroughly  furn- 
ished for  every  good  work."  Instruction  and  train- 
ing 'in  righteousness'  form  the  Bible's  legitimate 
field  and  men  wrong  it  when  they  ignore  this  sim- 
ple statement  it  makes  on  its  own  behalf. 

In  studying  this  oriental  literature  we  do  not 
think  of  taking  all  its  statements  in  a  hard  and  fast 
literal  sense.  No  sane  man  supposes  that  God  has 
wings  and  feathers  because  the  Psalmist  writing 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


oriental  poetry  says  of  the  tord,  "He  shall  cover 
thee  with  his  feathers  and  under  his  wings  shalt  thou 
trust" — that  would  be  turning  rhetoric  into  logic. 
Even  the  most  conservative  man,  maintaining  that 
he  believes  the  Bible  "just  as  it  reads"  would  nev- 
er picture  God  as  a  huge  bird  because  of  this  lan- 
guage of  the  Psalmist  about  wings  and  feathers. 
We  take  into  account  the  literary  habits  and  meth- 
ods of  these  oriental  writers;  we  distinguish  be- 
tween poetry  and  prose;  we  abandon  the  letter 
when  it  would  kill  our  faith  and  follow  that  Spirit 
which  makes  us  genuinely  alive. 

I  am  to  study  with  you  for  several  Sunday  even- 
ings some  of  the  early  narratives  contained  in  the 
book  of  Genesis.  The  day  when  they  could  all  be 
read  and  accepted  as  literal,  exact  statements  of 
historical  and  scientific  truth,  has  for  thousands  of 
thoughtful  people  gone.  Some  of  these  people 
have  found  their  way  into  a  new  and  more  inspir- 
ing view  of  these  narratives.  Others  have  simply 
thrown  them  over  as  being  a  lot  of  old  wives'  fables 
not  deserving  the  attention  of  serious  minds.  Oth- 
ers are  still  waiting  for  more  light  to  fall  upon 
these  pages  which  they  prize  but  find  puzzling.  It 
is  my  hope  that  I  may  give  some  aid  in  that  direc- 
tion and  help  to  recover  these  writings  to  the  inter- 
est and  confidence  of  some  who  have  abandoned 
them.  When  rightly  understood  each  one  of  these 
ancient  narratives  contains  for  us  a  veritable  "word 
of  God." 

To-night  we  take  up  the  first  chapter  of  the  book 
of  Genesis  together  with  the  first  three  verses  of 
the  second  chapter.  This  portion  of  scripture  is  a 
poem.  The  language,  the  literary  form  and  the 
style  indicate  this.  It  would  be  a  gain  indeed  if 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


our  Bibles  were  printed  as  well  as  are  other  books. 
The  Psalms  with  their  recurring  refrains  ought  to 
be  printed  as  are  other  hymns;  the  book  of  Job 
ought  to  show  in  the  printed  form  its  dramatic 
style;  this  account  of  the  creation  with  the  stately 
introduction,  with  the  various  stanzas,  and  the  oft 
repeated  refrain,  "God  saw  that  it  was  good;  and 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  one  day" 
would  be  clearer  to  the  reader  if  it  were  printed  as 
a  poem. 

In  studying  this  passage  it  is  well  to  remember 
in;  the  first  place  that  it  was  not  written  primarily 
to  teach  science  and  we  shall  not  therefore  find  all 
its  scientific  references  accurate.  If  we  take  it  lit- 
erally it  does  not  embody  the  science  of  our  day  but 
of  that  far  off  time  when  this  writer,  whose  name 
we  do  not  know,  penned  his  poem.  It  says  that 
the  world  was  made  from  start  to  finish,  from  star 
dust,  up  to  man,  in  six  days.  The  story  in  the  rocks 
as  we  have  learned  to  read  it  indicates  a  much 
longer  period.  The  attempt  to  make  out  that  the 
word  "day"  meant  to  them  a  period  or  aeon  breaks 
down  when  we  notice  the  reference  to  "morning 
and  evening"  and  when  we  remember  how  the  He- 
brews took  these  days  of  creation  as  giving  them 
the  model  for  their  week  of  seven  days  with  twen- 
ty-four hours  each.  There  is  no  warrant  for  tak- 
ing the  word  "day"  in  a  figurative  sense  and  the  re- 
mainder of  the  account  literally.  The  author  was 
writing  a  religious  poem  and  the  work  of  creation 
is  pictured  as  moving  forward  from  stage  to  stage 
in  six  days  with  their  succeeding  evenings  and 
mornings. 

It  is  not  believed  by  scientists  that  birds  preced- 
ed reptiles  in  the  order  of  animal  life  but  the  poem 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


says  that  birds  were  created  on  the  fifth  day  and 
"the  "creeping  things"  on  the  sixth.  Science  knows 
nothing  of  fruit  trees,  bearing  fruit  before  the  sun 
was  created  and  before  there  was  sunshine  to 
ripen  that  fruit.  Science  does  not  teach 
that  there  is  a  firm  place,  "a  firmament," 
up  in  the  sky  dividing  the  waters  above  it  which 
now  and  then  come  down  in  rain,  from  the  waters 
beneath  it.  All  these  scientific  references  are  ac- 
cording to  the  knowledge  of  that  day  and  are  not 
in  agreement  with  the  accepted  views  of  modern 
times. 

But  while  we  do  not  press  for  detailed  agreement 
— that  effort  is  apt  to  lead  to  evasion,  special  plead- 
ing, and  intellectual  dishonesty — many  of  the  refer- 
ences do  indicate  wonderful  insight.  The  writer 
does  not  speak  of  the  creation  as  wrought  by  in- 
stantaneous manufacture,  God  calling  the  universe 
into  being  at  once  by  Omnipotent  decree.  He  pic- 
tures the  various  orders  of  life  appearing  success- 
ively in  an  ascending  series,  which  is  in  agreement 
with  the  modern  belief.  His  phrases,  "Let  the 
earth  bring  forth  the  herb  bearing  seed"  and  "Let 
the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly  moving  creatures 
that  have  life"  does/  not  point  to  an  act  of  instan- 
taneous manufacture  but  rather  to  the  gradual  op- 
eration of  resident  forces — "let  the  earth  and  the 
waters  bring  forth."  It  pictures  an  orderly  process 
of  development  from  life  germs  through  resident 
forces — and  this  is  in  harmony  with  the  best  we  know. 
Science  tells  us  that  the  earliest  form  of  animal 
life  was  marine — and  the  first  mention  of  animal 
life  in  our  poem  is  "let  the  waters  bring  forth  mov- 
ing creatures."  The  nebular  hypothesis  of  modern 
science  looks  back  to  a  time  when  there  was  no 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


universe  but  only  heated  matter  floating  formless 
in  space — and  this  old  writer  says  that  after  God 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the  earth  was 
formless  and  chaotic,  "without  form  and  void." 

When  I  read  this  ancient  writing  therefore,  not 
pressing  for  correspondences  which  are  not  clear- 
ly there,  not  seeking  to  warp  or  twist  an  ancient 
poem  into  artificial  agreement  with  twentieth  cen- 
tury science,  but  taking  it  just  as  it  stands,  I  am 
amazed  at  the  insight.  Study  the  dignity  and  sim- 
plicity, the  seriousness  and  directness,  the  literary 
beauty  and  substantial  accuracy  of  this  ancient  po- 
em of  the  creation  and  tell  me  where  you  find  any- 
thing in  literature  to  surpass  it!  Men  are  aston- 
ished that  Shakspeare  could  write  the  plays  he  did 
— but  Shakspeare  lived  in  the  sixteenth  century  after 
Christ,  in  the  joyous  intellectual  awakening  of  the 
time  of  Elizabeth.  This  writer  dwelt  in  a  region 
remote,  in  a  far  away  period  of  the  world's  history, 
yet  up  to  this  hour  what  picture  of  the  creation 
will  stand  beside  his  own.  Lay  beside  it  the  best 
accounts  to  be  found  in  the  cosmogonies  of  the 
Babylonians,  the  Assyrians,  or  the  Egyptians,  and 
the  Hebrew  is  conspicuous  for  its  freedom  from 
absurdities,  for  the  absence  of  foolish  mythology, 
for  the  sense  of  reserve  and  for  the  positive  excel- 
lences which  outrank  the  best  to  be  found  else- 
where. 

The  poem  was  written  mainly  to  teach  monothe- 
ism and  to  indicate  the  relation  of  the  Universe 
to  that  One  God.  Other  nations  were  saying?  that 
all  these  creatures  are  gods.  Egypt  the  powerful 
neighbor  of  the  Hebrews  on  the  south  had  sacred 
bulls  and  sacred  beetles,  sacred  crocodiles  and  a 
sacred  river — all  sorts  of  objects  were  deified  and 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


made  objects  of  worship.  Assyria,  the  neighbor  on 
the  north,  was  making  gods  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  of  the  other  heavenly  bodies  in  her  star  wor- 
ship. The  Hebrew  said  boldly,  These  are  not  gods. 
There  is  one  God  and  in  the  beginning  One  God 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the  herb  bearing 
seed  and  the  tree  bearing  fruit,  the  moving  crea- 
tures that  live  in  the  waters,  the  birds  that  fly  above 
the  earth,  the  creeping  things  and  the  cattle  upon 
the  earth.  All  these  are  not  gods  but  are  the  crea- 
tures of  God  made  for  the  service  of  man.'  All 
this  is  a  commonplace  today  but  in  that  far  off  time 
it  marked  a  clear  advance  over  the  types  of  thought 
that  surrounded  the  Hebrew  race. 

The  Hebrew  conception  of  the  universe  here  ex- 
pressed is  that  it  was  not  on  the  one  hand  inde- 
pendent, self-existent,  eternal  as  the  materialist 
would  claim;  nor  on  the  other  hand  was  it  antagon- 
istic to  the  divine  will  as  mistaken  religionists  have 
said  at  various  times;  the  universe  is  the  creature 
of  God's  will,  the  servant  of  his  purpose,  and  in  its 
essential  character  it  is  good.  Where  do  you  find 
more  nobly  expressed  the  relation  of  the  created 
universe  to  the  moral  purpose  of  God  and  its  rela- 
tion to  the  moral  education  of  man,  than  in  the 
simple  stately  sentences  of  this  ancient  poem! 

Over  and  over  he  sings  as  stage  after  stage  is 
reached  in  the  ascending  series,  "And  God  saw  that 
it  was  good."  Mistaken  philosophers  and  theo- 
logians have  sometimes  claimed  that  matter  was  in- 
herently evil;  that  we  can  only  gain  holiness  by 
separation  from  all  contact  with  the  world.  This 
writer  maintains  that  it  was  all  "very  good."  We 
need  not  claim  that  it  is  the  best  possible}  world — 
we  do  not  know  enough  of  the  possibilities  to  make 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


such  claim.  It  would  seem  strange  if  it  were 
the  best  possible  world,  that  we  are  always  trying 
to  make  it  a  better  world — irrigating  Arizona,  dyk- 
ing the  overflowing  rivers,  tunnelling  the  moun- 
tain barriers  between  states.  But  it  is  a  good 
world  in  that  it  works  frankly  on  the  side  of  right- 
eousness. The  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard  be- 
cause of  what  is  wrought  into  the  very  constitution 
of  things.  The  stars  in  their  courses  fought 
against  Sisera  and  they  fight  against  every  evil 
force  that  takes  the  field.  The  world  is  also  good 
because  in  its  unfolding  history  it  has  steadily  pre- 
pared the  way  for  higher  and  richer  forms  of  happi- 
ness; it  has  wrought  out  the  finer  capacity.  This  in 
brief  is  the  best  modern  view  of  the  universe  and  it 
found  substantial  though  poetic  expression  when 
this  ancient  writer  sang  that  "God  saw  it  was  very 
good." 

We  notice  also  the  sense  of  reserve.  Take  that 
opening  sentence,  "In  the  beginning  God  created." 
When  did  that  occur?  How  long:  ago  was  it?  No 
date  is  given — this  is  the  work  of  an  inspired  writ- 
er who  knew  better  than  to  fix  a  limit.  You  take 
up  the  King  James  version  of  the  Bible  and  you 
find  opposite  this  verse  in  the  margin,  "4004  B.  C." 
This  date  stands  in  the  uninspired  margin  and  every 
high  school  boy  smiles  as  he  reads  it.  The  ancient 
author,  however,  is  too  wise  .to  attempt  a  date;  his 
intelligence  reaches  back  as  far  as  it  will  go  and 
then  unable  to  go  farther  he  simply  says,  "In  the 
beginning  God,  the  author  and  source  of  all  finite 
existence,  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

The  reference  to  the  creation  of  human  beings 
shows  the  same  reserve.  How  were  the  first  hu- 
man beings  made,  men  ask.  By  instantaneous  man- 


The  Poem  of  the  Creation  9 

ufacture  or  had  they  subhuman  ancestors?  An- 
other writer  giving  us  in  the  second  chapter  of 
Genesis  a  second  account  of  creation  which  does 
not  rank  with  this  first  chapter  in  dignity,  eleva- 
tion or  insight,  attempts  to  give  some  details  as  to 
the  method.  Into  that  question  the  author  of  this 
poem  does  not  enter.  At  the  very  summit  of  the 
creation,  God  said  "Let  us  make  man  in  our  image 
and  let  him  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea, 
over  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  over  every  living 
thing.  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image  after 
his  likeness."  There  he  leaves  it.  There  is  room 
within  his  statement  for  any  method  of  preparing 
man's  physical  structure  which  science  may  per- 
chance discover,  and  the  moral  truths  still  remain 
clear — man  is  at  the  summit  of  creation  and  he 
alone  is  capable  of  moral  response  to  his  Maker. 

The  very  fact  that  a  second  account  of  creation 
stands  in  our  Bible  indicates  what  all  students  know 
that  we  have  different  streams  of  tradition  utilized 
and  incorporated  in  this  literature.  We  may  find 
too  an  account  of  the  creation,  taken  from  the  As- 
syrian tablets  found  in  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  which 
also  has  seven  days  or  stages  of  the  creation  and 
other  points  of  resemblance  to  our  scripture  narra- 
tive. All  these  authors  undoubtedly  gathered  the 
materials  they  used  from  a  common  and  still  older 
source.  The  inspiration  of  the  Hebrew  narrative 
lies  in  the  editing  those  materials  received.  The 
confusing  mythology  was  thrown  out,  the  trivial 
and  absurd  elements  discarded,  and  the  spiritual 
significance  brought  clearly  to  the  front.  The  in- 
spiration lies  in  the  moral  truth  contained  in  the 
account  rather  than  in  some  bits  of  strangely  re- 
vealed science.  Thus  the  poem  stands  supreme 


io  The  Poem  of  the  Creation 


among  the  ancient  cosmogonies,  a  delight  to  every 
lover  of  noble  literature  and  an  inspiration  to  the 
seeker  after  spiritual  truth. 

The  poem  then  was  not  written  to  reveal  nature 
which  is  the  work  of  science  but  to  reveal  God;  and 
its  task  is  well  done.  It  furnishes  us  also  with  its 
own  fine  method.  The  heavens  still  declare  the 
glory  of  God  as  they  did  in  the  days  of  the  Psalm- 
ist and  as  they  did  in  that  far  off  time  when  the 
morning  stars  sang  together  and  all  the  sons  of 
God  shouted  for  joy.  The  very  movement  of  those 
heavenly  bodies,  rapid,  stately,  harmonious,  speaks 
of  divine  purpose.  When  you  see  a  ball  rolling 
along  the  bowling  alley  straight  and  swift,  and  fin- 
ally knocking  over  all  the  pins  at  once,  you  know 
instantly  that  there  is  power,  intelligence  and  pur- 
pose behind  it.  The  ball  did  not  start  out  and  do 
all  that  of  itself.  So  when  we  behold  the  move- 
ments of  the  spheres  above  us  we  know  that  there 
is  power,  intelligence  and  purpose  behind  them. 
And  intelligence  and  purpose  must  belong  to 
Some  One — and  that  Some  One  we  call,  God. 

"The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God"  the  sing- 
er sang,  "and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handi- 
work." And  then  beholding  the  evidence  of  a  moral 
order  about  him  he  sang  on  about  "the  law  of  the 
Lord  which  is  perfect  converting  the  soul."  And 
at  the  close  of  his  song  he  prayed  that  the  same 
order  and  harmony  which  he  saw  in  the  heavens 
above  him  might  be  established  within  his  own 
heart — "Let  the  words  of  my  mouth  and  the  medi- 
tations of  my  heart  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O 
Lord,  my  strength  and  my  Redeemer." 


Cfte  Story  of  the  Garden  of  €dcn. 


1  *  When  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good 
for  food,  a  delight  to  the  eyes  and  a  tree  to  be 
desired  to  make  one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit 
and  did  eat;  she  also  gave  unto  her  husband 
and  he  did  eat. "  Gen .3:6. 

CHE  picture  as  it  stands  is  certainly  harmon- 
ious throughout.  We  have  here  an  ac- 
count of  certain  people  who  were  sim- 
ple, undeveloped,  immature.  They  were 
living  not  in  a  palace  or  on  a  ship  or  in 
a  city  but  out  of  doors  among  the  trees,  as  primi- 
tive people  live.  We  are  told  that  they  wore  no 
clothing  at  first;  then  only  fig  leaves,  just  as  cer- 
tain rude  tribes  in  Africa  have  been  found  whose 
only  dress  is  a  bunch  of  leaves  from  the  nearest 
tree;  then  the  skins  of  animals.  All  this  is  primi- 
tive. No  mention  is  made  of  houses  or  tools  or 
books.  The  agent  of  unholy  suggestion  is  pictur- 
ed as  a  serpent — and  the  serpent  is  not  out  of  place 
in  a  garden.  The  will  of  God  and  man's  will  are 
opposed,  not  regarding  some  complex  thing  but 
touching  a  very  simple  matter,  the  gratification  of 
physical  appetite  in  eating  a  certain  fruit.  No  men- 
tion is  made  of  vast  endowments,  of  wondrous 
powers  or  of  exalted  character — all  this  is  read 
into  the  story  from  Milton's  Paradise  Lost.  The  Bi- 
ble picture  is  too  accurate  for  any  such  references 
— there  all  is  simple,  primitive,  aboriginal. 

The  question  arises,  have  we  here  a  bit  of  actual 
history  or  a  moral  picture  such  as  the  parable  of 
the  Ten  Virgins,  or  the  Prodigal  Son  or  the  Mar- 
riage Supper?  Against  the  view  that  all  this  is  plain 


14  The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 

history  stands  the  fact  that  no  place  is  known  on 
earth  or  'was  ever  known,  where  a  tree  grew  whose 
fruit  would  make  men  live  forever.  This  tree  is 
like  "the  spring  of  eternal  youth,"  poetic  rather 
than  actual.  The  descendants  of  those  very  people 
never  found  that  tree  or  garden — indeed  they  nev- 
er mentioned  it  in  their  subsequent  writings. 

Furthermore  a  serpent  is  brought  upon  the  scene, 
not  crawling  but  standing  erect.  He  is  later  made 
to  "go  upon  his  belly"  as  a  curse.  An  old  Assyr- 
ian tablet  shows  a  cut  with  a  tree  in  the  center,  a 
man  and  a  woman  naked  standing  on  either  side 
of  it,  and  a  serpent  standing  erect  like  a  cane  ap- 
parently in  converse  with  the  woman.  This  tablet 
indicates  the  general  form  of  the  tradition  in  that 
early  day.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  serpents  always 
went  upon  their  bellies;  their  anatomical  structure 
makes  it  impossible  that  they  should  proceed  in  any 
other  way. 

The  transaction  here  pictured  is  often  referred  to 
as  "The  Fall  of  Man."  It  is  never  called  so  in  the 
Bible  itself.  It  has  been  made  a  kind  of  corner- 
stone in  a  certain  system  of  theology  but  this  does 
rot  accord  with  the  treatment  given  the  narrative 
in  the  scriptures.  From  this  third  chapter  of  Gene- 
sis where  the  account  stands,  on  over  through  the 
Old  Testament  to  the  book  of  Malachi  this  incident 
io  never  referred  to  once.  Moses  and  Joshua, 
Samuel  and  David,  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  taught 
and  wrote  in  law,  in  psalm  and  in  prophecy  with- 
out ever  referring  to  this  "Fall"  as  being  the  occa- 
sion when  sin  entered  the  world.  More  than  that 
Jesus  Christ  himself,  the  Redeemer  of  the  world, 
the  Saviour  of  mankind,  never  speaks  of  the  Fall 
as  making  his  redemption  necessary — indeed  he  nev- 


The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  15 

er  refers  to  this  incident  at  all  in  all  his  teaching. 
And  the  other  authors  of  the  Bible,  Peter  and 
James,  John  and  Jude,  the  author  of  Hebrews  and 
the  author  of  Revelation,  never  speak  of  this  Fall 
in  all  their  writings.  The  only  writer  who  men- 
tions it  is  Paul — he  speaks  of  it  four  times,  three 
times  incidentally  and  once  using  it  as  an  illustra- 
tion to  show  the  organic  relation  in  which  Christ 
stands  to  the  race.  If  therefore  we  follow  the  guid- 
ance of  these  inspired  writers  of  scripture  we  shall 
not  take  this  narrative  and  make  it  a  prominent 
feature  of  Christian  belief  as  certain  dogmatic  sys- 
tems have  done. 

The  stamp  of  veracity  in  this  narrative,  as  I 
view  it,  is  to  be  found  not  in  its  actual  correspond- 
ence to  a  particular  event  but  in  the  fidelity  of  its 
presentation  of  moral  truth.  It  is  an  inspired  pic- 
ture of  a  universal  experience.  It  shows  the 
stealthy  approach  of  moral  evil,  the  peril  of  tarrying 
in  its  presence,  its  entrance  into  the  individual  life, 
and  the  pathetic  results,  with  searching  accuracy. 
It  is  a  luminous  picture  of  the  early,  long  continued 
and  widespread  corruption  of  humanity  by  moral 
evil.  In  that  light  it  will  repay  our  careful  study 
for  the  fact  stands  that  sin  has  entered  the  world 
and  that  it  is  the  enemy  of  our  well-being. 

This  larger  claim  regarding  the  picture  is  borne 
out  by  the  terms  used.  The  word  "adam"  in  He- 
brew is  not  a  proper  name  like  Moses,  David  or 
Isaiah;  it  is  the  Hebrew  word  for  "man."  "Let  us 
make  'man'  in  our  image — the  word  used  is  'adam'. 
My  spirit  shall  not  always  strive  with  'man'  (adam) 
— this  was  spoken  a  thousand  years  after  the  first 
human  beings  were  dead  and  gone.  "Man  (adam) 
does  not  live  by  bread  alone."  "Man  (adam)  that 


16  The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 

is  born  of  woman  is  of  few  days  and  full  of  trou- 
ble." "What  is  'man'  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him, 
or  the  son  of  'man'  (adam)  that  thou  visitest  him." 
Thus  the  term  is  used  in  hundreds  of  passages,  a 
general  term  for  humanity.  These  simple  undevel- 
oped individuals  set  forth  in  the  picture  are  repre- 
sentatives of  humanity  and  the  effort  is  to  picture 
the  entrance  and  lodgment  of  evil  in  the  human 
race. 

With  this  view  of  the  passage  then,  let  us  make 
a  closer  study  observing  the  emergence  of  the  dis- 
tinction between  right  and  wrong  in  human  con- 
sciousness. I  wish  to  notice  several  points  in  this 
wondrous  picture  of  that  fundamental  experience. 

i.  The  earliest  form  of  moral  restraint  was  re- 
garding physical  appetite — "ye  shall  not  eat  of  this 
tree." 

The  Garden  of  Eden,  as  a  recent  writer  in  the 
"Congregationalist"  told  us,  represents  "the  inno- 
cence of  untried  powers."  Every  child  has  a  sec- 
tion of  that  garden  in  him;  even  the  adult  has  some 
portion  of  it  remaining.  You  personally  are  inno- 
cent of  murder,  theft  and  adultery,  of  many  forms  of 
evil— to  that  extent  the  garden  remains  undestroy- 
ed.  From  other  important  portions  of  it  you  have 
been  cast  out  by  your  disobedience.  The  garden 
was  a  symbol  of  the  simple,  undeveloped  moral 
life. 

The  voice  of  God  was  heard  in  the  Garden — this 
represented  moral  law.  It  stood  for  the  distinction 
between  right  and  wrong.  Sooner  or  later  into 
every  garden  of  undeveloped  innocence  comes  that 
voice  and  that  sense  of  difference  between  good 
and  evil;  the  feeling  of  moral  obligation,  to  be  ac- 
cepted or  refused,  is  then  consciously  present. 

The  voice  in  this  primitive  garden  spoke  of  re- 


The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  17 

straint  in  the  use  of  physical  appetite.  All  this 
shows  insight.  How  many  a  life  finds  its  peace 
and  joy,  or  more  commonly  its  weakness  and  shame 
just  there!  The  voice  said,  "Ye  shall  not  eat  of 
this  tree."  Joys  many  and  gratifications  many 
there  were,  satisfactions  full  and  round  which  were 
entirely  innocent,  but  to  eat!  of  a  certain  forbidden 
tree  would  be  a  wrong  step.  There  are  restraints 
as  well  as  privileges  for  every  unfolding  life.  The 
author  is  wise  in  picturing  the  earliest  form;  of  re- 
straint as  addressed  to  physical  appetite. 

2.  The  first  wrong  counsel  came  in  the  evil  sug- 
gestion that  their  liberty  was  being  curtailed — the 
serpent's  word  was,  "God  has  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat 
of  every  tree  of  the  garden." 

You  are  not  enjoying  all  there  is  to  enjoy,  was 
the  wily  suggestion  of  the  snake!  The  writer  made 
apt  choice  in  selecting  the  serpent  to  be  the  bearer 
of  this  evil  thought.  Among  the  Semitic  races  the 
serpent  was  the  symbol  of  evil,  the  idea  arising 
perhaps  from  the  constant  enmity  between  man  and 
the  snakes,  from  their  repulsive  appearance  and 
their  oft-times  venomous  nature.  In  certain  races 
the  serpent  was  also  associated  with  unusual  wis- 
dom. This  Hebrew  says  "the  serpent  was  more 
subtle  than  any  beast  of  the  field;  and  the  Greeks 
connected  the  serpent  with  the  gift  of  prophecy— 
the  tripod  of  the  Delphic  oracle  being  supported 
by  three  snakes.  The  symbol  was  well  chosen — 
cruel,  treacherous,  crawling,  half  hidden  by  leaves 
and  grass,  silent,  insinuating,  hateful!  No  other 
animal  in  the  whole  creation  would  have  served 
so  well  to  symbolize  the  approach  of  evil. 

The  tantalizing  debate  between  the  serpent  and 
the  woman  is  drawn  with  a  fine  hand.  It  shows 


1 8  The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 

insight  as  to  the  attack  of  evil  upon  the  human 
heart.  "Aha,  God  has  put  lines  on  you,  has  He? 
Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree.  You  cannot  do  this 
and  you  cannot  do  that." 

Is  not  that  the  powerful  appeal  that  evil  makes 
to  the  morally  immature  to-day?  'You  are  hedged 
in.  You  are  tied  to  your  mother's  apron  string. 
You  are  not  enjoying  your  liberty!'  How  familiar 
it  all  sounds — it  might  have  been  written  yester- 
day! 

The  woman's  first  reply  was  sound,  we  may  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden;  there  are 
broad  fields  of  innocent  enjoyment  open  to  us. 
But  of  the  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  God  hath 
said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it  lest  ye  die.'  She  recog- 
nized the  fact  that  a  wise,  prudent  restraint  was 
thrown  about  them  for  their  own  protection. 

Then  comes  the  serpent's  lying  claim,  "Oh,  ye 
shall  not  surely  die.  Your  eyes  will  be  opened. 
You  will  be  as  gods  knowing  good  and  evil.  It 
will  mean  enlarged  experience  of  the  world."  How 
familiar  it  all  is!  More  subtle  indeed  than  any  beast 
of  the  field!  Is  there  any  more  insidious,  danger- 
ous approach  that  the  tempter  makes  to-day  to  the 
morally  immature,  than  these  very  suggestions  that 
their  liberty  is  being  curtailed  and  that  a  bit  of  dis- 
obedience will  not  hurt  them.  "Ye  shall  not  surely 
die.  You  will  simply  get  your  eyes  opened,  your 
eye-teeth  cut.  You  will  assert  your  independence 
and  be  as  gods,  having  a  larger  experience  oflife.'» 
Has  evil  any  thing  more  seductive  to  urge  upon  the 
immature? 

3.     The  object  offered  to  this  human  appetite. 
It  was  a  simple  thing  nothing  but  fruit  growing 
on  a  tree,  for  the  author  is  consistent  throughout. 


The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  19 

The  first  clash  between  the  will  of  God  and  the  will 
of  man  is  regarding  this  simple  bit  of  fruit — the 
seriousness  of  it  all  lay  in  the  fact  that  they  were 
opposed.  Moral  character  begins  in  our  making 
right  or  wrong  use  of  those  simple,  familiar  ob- 
jects that  lie  close  at  hand. 

The  woman  saw  that  the  fruit  was  "good  for 
food" — it  was  natural  for  her  to  like  it.  God  made 
her  with  an  appetite  for  fruit — that  same  suggestion 
which  to-day  is  made  to  boys  and  girls.  It  was  "a 
delight  to  the  eyes" — its  attractiveness  could  be 
seen  shining  down  through  the  leaves  of  the  tree. 
Evil  can  array  itself  in,  gauze  and  ribbons,  in  lace 
and  embroidery.  The  apostle  said  he  had  seen 
Satan  gotten  up  as  an  angel  of  light.  "And  a  tree 
to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise" — the  appeal  to  the 
immature  that  they  "see  life,  know  the  world,  have 
their  fling,  become  wise  and  knowing,"  has  often- 
times a  strange  attraction  for  them.  When  you 
read  this  ancient  document  carefully  you  find  it 
needs  no  artificial  props  to  prove  its  inspiration — 
the  stamp,  of  veracity  and  insight  are  found  in  its 
fidelity  to  the  moral  facts! 

The  occasion  for  wrong  doing  was  found  there  in 
that  ideal  home  for  human  beings.  It  had  to  be 
there.  The  forbidden  fruit  had  to  grow  in  the  par- 
adise of  God.  Character  is  developed  not  by  being 
placed  where  there  is  no  possibility  of  evil  but  by 
living  where  evil  is  possible  and  refused.  Men 
ask,  "Why  was  the  forbidden  tree  there?  Why  is 
temptation  allowed  to  cross  our  path?  Why 
could  not  God  make  a  world  without  evil  in  it?'* 
He  has  made  such  a  world — there  is  no  sense  of 
moral  evil  among  the  birds.  They  eat,  drink  and 
are  merry — and  to-morrow  they  die  without  ever 


20  The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 

knowing  the  pain  of  penitence  or  the  unrest  of  mor- 
al aspiration.  To  relieve  men  from  the  necessity  of 
moral  choice,  from  the  exercise  of  will,  would  be 
simply  to  transform  them  into  another  sort  of  two- 
legged  animals.  Character  is  developed  only  in 
the  presence  of  options  and  by  the  continued  choice 
of  right.  The  tree  bearing  forbidden  fruit  grew 
therefore  in  the  garden  of  God. 

The  evil  did  not  consist  in  any  imme- 
diate havoc  caused  by  eating  it — the  wom- 
an did  not  fall  dead.  There  is  no  hint  that  it  dis- 
agreed with  her;  it  was  not  poison  she  ate  but  ripe 
fruit.  Men  err  who  measure  the  enormity  or  light- 
ness of  evil  only  by  the  visible  consequences.  The 
seriousness  of  her  act  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  will 
of  God  and  the  will  of  man  were  now  hostile.  The 
spirit  of  rebellion  had  come  in.  That  contempt  for 
divine  ideals  which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  sin  became 
the  ground  of  her  decision.  The  object  was  sim- 
ple, merely  some  fruit — the  opposition  of  her  will 
to  the  will  of  God  was  ominous  and  threatening. 

4.     There  is  contagion  in  evil. 

Sin  and  disease  are  communicated  from  life  to 
life,  with  a  certainty  and  rapidity  that  does  not  seem 
to  belong  to  health  and  righteousness.  This  may 
be  to  the  end  that  men  should  dread  them  the 
more.  My  smallpox  is  not  my  own  personal  af- 
fair— if  I  sit  beside  you  in  the  car  or  talk  with  you 
on  the  street  I  imperil  your  life  and  the  lives  of 
your  loved  ones.  Moral  evil  is  not  a  man's  own 
private  affair.  No  man  liveth!  unto  himself  or  sin- 
neth  unto  himself.  You  cannot  be  profane,  un- 
clean, insincere,  negligent  of  your  duties  Godward 
or  manward,  as  if  your  moral  disease  were  your 
own  affair.  Boys,  yours  and  ours,  as  well  as  men 


The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  21 

suffer  loss  because  you  are  not  up  to  the  mark. 
The  moral  solidarity  of  the  race  loads  each  individ- 
ual with  a  tremendous  responsibility  which  he  can- 
not avoid  in  choosing  his  own  line  of  life. 

You  find  all  this  in  the  story.  The  woman  did 
not  fall  into  disobedience  alone — did  any  soul  ever 
fall  alone?  "She  gave  unto  her  husband  and  he 
did  eat."  Evil  is  contagious.  The  woman  went 
wrong,  then  her  husband;  a  son  was  born  to  them 
and  he  became  a  murderer  and  an  outcast.  The 
whole  family  history  is  soiled  and  stained  by  guilt. 
And  it  all  looked  back  to  that  time  when  will  was 
arrayed  against  will  in  the  gratification  of  physical 
appetite. 

5.  Shame  and  cowardice  follow  upon  wrong  do- 
ing. 

The  oriental  writer  puts  it  as  an  oriental  would. 
The  guilty  couple  felt  shame  and  uneasiness  in 
place  of  the  old  light  hearted  freedom — "they  went 
and  hid  themselves  from  the  Lord  among  the  trees 
of  the  garden."  They  covered  themselves  with  the 
leaves.  Presently  the  shadows  began  to  fall  and 
they  heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  "walking  in  the 
garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day."  When  they  heard 
Him  calling,  they  were  frightened.  The  presence 
of  moral  authority,  the  sense  of  accountability,  the 
eye  of  their  Maker,  had  become  dreadful  to  them 
because  will  was  arrayed  against  will.  Alas  when 
the  day  comes  to  boy  or  girl  when  he  can  no  long- 
er live  out  in  the  open!  Alas  for  the  man  who  feels 
ashamed  and  afraid  when  the  divine  voice  sounds 
in  his  ears  and  the  presence  of  moral  authority  is 
manifest  in  his  garden! 

Moral  cowardice  will  always  seeTc  to  shift  the 
blame.  The  man  said,  "The  woman  whom  thou 


22  The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 

gavest  to  be  with  me,  gave  me  and  I  did  eat."  The 
woman  whom  thou  gavest  me — as  if  he  would 
throw  the  blame  upon  her  shoulders  and  then  upon 
God  who  gave  him  his  helpmeet!  The  moral  cow- 
ard to-day  tells  himself,  "If  I  hadn't  been  married 
or  if  I  had  married  a  different  wife  I  would  have 
run  straight."  The  religious  shirk  says,  "If  I  hadn't 
been  made  to  go  to  church  so  much  when  I  was 
a  boy  I  would  be  a  Christian  to-day,"  seeking  to 
unload  the  blame  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  godly 
parents.  This  story  is  wonderfully  modern  in 
spirit! 

Then  the  woman  hands  it  on — "the  serpent  beguil- 
ed me  and  I  did  eat."  The  serpent,  something  that 
God  created  and  allowed  to  enter  the  garden— the 
same  disposition  to  shift  responsibility  elsewhere! 
But  blame  cannot  be  shifted.  Make  all  the  allow- 
ance you  will  for  heredity  and  environment — per- 
sonally I  give  a  large  place  to  both — there  comes  a 
time  when  the  will  of  the  man  stands  at  the  parting 
of  the  ways.  He  can  take  the  right  or  he  can  take 
the  left.  Unless  he  had  this  power  to  choose  there 
would  be  no  sense  of  right  or  wrong  doing,  no 
character  of  any  sort — it  would  all  be  as  mechanical 
as  the  action  of  water  flowing  down  hill.  This 
choice  is  made  under  all  the  forms  of  conduct  that 
make  up  life,  and  where  the  choice  is  contrary  to 
what  the  man  believes  to  be  the  will  of  God  he 
must  stand  upon  his  own  two  feet  and  bear  the 
blame. 

6.     The  result  of  the  wrong  choice 

The  evil  consequences  are  portrayed  in  terms  that 
belong  to  this  primitive  picture.  Disobedience 
brought  expulsion  from  the  garden — the  joyous  in- 
nocence of  untried  powers  was  gone.  Their  eyes 


The  Story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden  23 

were  indeed  opened — to  painful,  shameful  facts  in 
their  own  experience.  They  became  not  as  gods, 
but  as  human  beings  with  experiences  enlarged  only 
to  include  what  was  ugly  and  hateful.  And  out 
into  their  lives  of  struggle  and  sorrow  they  bore  the 
mournful  consequences  of  rebellion  against 'the  will 
of  Him  who  lives  to  fulfil  His  loving  purpose 
through  the  obedient  fellowship  of  his  children. 

But  the  Lord  ever  sets  his  bow  in  the  cloud. 
The  promise  of  mercy  shines  somewhere  in  the 
darkest  sky.  "I  will  put  enmity"  the  writer  says, 
between  humanity  and  this  moral  evil.  It  shall 
bruise  the  heel  of  man  but  man  shall  ,  crush  its 
head  at  last.  It  would  be  unfair  to  read  back  into 
this  gleam  of  light  the  full  noonday  of  Christian 
revelation.  But  enmity  between  man  and  evil 
there  is  and  ever  has  been — thank  God  that  it  has 
never  died  out.  Humanity  as  a  whole  has  never 
made  terms  with  evil  nor  consented  to  its  presence 
here!  Humanity  to-day  is  set  upon  expelling  evil 
as  an  intruder!  I  will  put  enmity  between  human- 
ity and  moral  evil — a  promise  of  struggle  but  also 
a  promise  of  victory! 

The  struggle  would  mean  suffering  and  blood- 
shed— "it  shall  wound  thy  heel."  Evil  has  wounded 
the  heel  and  the  hand,  the  mind  and  the  heart  of 
humanity  from  that  day  to  this.  It  has  made  its 
spear-thrust  in  the  side  of  Christ.  But  the  promise 
also  is  in  the  way  of  realization.  Humanity,  be- 
cause it  is  God's  last  best  creation,  shall  bruise 
the  head  of  evil  It  is  for  you  and  for  '  me  who 
have  known  the  loss  of  Eden's  perfect  innocence; 
who  have  felt  the  shame  and  defeat  of  moral  dis- 
obedience; who  have  heard  also  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  summoning  us  back  to  moral  recovery,  to 


24  The  Stoty  of  the  Garden  of  Eden 


give  ourselves  to  that  Captain  of  the  world's  sal- 
vation, Jesus  Christ;  and  then  to  have  our  share  in 
the  battle,  our  part  in  the  victory  and  our  unending 
fellowship  with  Him  and  with  all  those  who  wash 
their  lives  and  make  them  white  in  the  blood  of 
sacrificial  effort. 


OAKLAND  ENQUIRER  PRINT 


The  Uses 

of 

Disappointment 


By 
REV.  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 


BAKER   PniXTIXG   CO. 

OAKLAND.    CAI<. 

190O 


"In  the  year  that  King  Ussiah  died, 
I  saw  the  Lord,  high  and  lifted  up, 
sitting  upon  His  throne" 


Cbe  Uses  of  Disappointment 


T  had.  been  a  sad  year  for  the  nation. 
The  reign  of  the  good  King  Uzziah 
had  come  to  an  end.  The  people 
commonly  dated  their  affairs  from 
the  reigns  of  their  kings  and  the  statement  of 
the  prophet  therefore  locates  a  certain  event 
in  his  life  history.  It  also  recalls  a  memora- 
ble experience — "In  the  year  that  King 
Uzziah  died,  I  saw  the  Lord!" 

You  remember  who  Uzziah  was.  He 
ascended  the  throne  as  a  boy  of  sixteen.  He 
reigned  fifty-two  years — almost  as  long  as 
Queen  Victoria.  He  was  as  noble  and  as 
useful  a  man  in  his  day  as  she  has  been  a 
woman  in  hers.  He  was  a  wise,  active,  effi- 
cient and  devout  sovereign.  He  won  notable 
victories  over  the  nation's  enemies  and  gave 
his  people  peace.  He  fortified  Jerusalem  by 
building  towers  at  the  valley  gate  and  at  the 
turning  of  the  wall.  He  showed  a  genuine 
interest  in  their  material  well  being — as  the 
Chronicler  tells  us,  "he  loved  husbandry." 
He  "dug  many  wells  in  the  desert"  and  had 
"much  cattle  in  the  low  country  and  on  the 
plains."  He  "planted  vineyards  on  the  slopes 


THE   USES  OF    DISAPPOINTMENT 


of  Carmel"  and  gave  stimulus  to  the  culture 
of  the  grape.  Thus  in  many  ways  he  served 
the  interests  of  the  nation  and  was  greatly 
beloved. 

But  the  closing  years  of  his  reign  were 
clouded  by  the  fact  that  he  contracted  the 
dreadful  disease  of  leprosy.  The  priest,  who 
wrote  an  account  of  the  matter  in  the  book 
of  Chronicles,  claims  that  it  was  because  he 
burned  incense  in  the  sanctuary,  instead  of 
allowing  the  priests  to  do  it.  The  prophet 
who  records  the  reign  in  the  book  of  Kings 
makes  no  such  assertion.  There  were  many, 
no  doubt,  who  held  the  priestly  view,  for  in 
their  minds  disease  meant  always  that  some 
one  had  sinned,  either  "this  man  or  his  par- 
ents;" and  they  attached  a  superstitious  im- 
portance to  having  incense  burned  by  real 
priests  rather  than  'by  ordinary  worshippers. 
In  whatever  way  it  came  about,  the  King  had 
leprosy,  and  royal  personage  as  he  was,  he 
was  compelled  by  the  stern  sanitary  require- 
ments- of  the  old  Jewish  law,  to  live  outside 
his  capital  and  to  reign  through  a  deputy.  At 
last  he  died  a  victim  of  the  cruel  disease. 

The  disappointment  was  sore  and  grievous. 
'His  reign  had  been  the  most  prosperous  since 
the  time  of  Solomon.  His  people  would 
have  had  him  live  on,  and  when  the  inevitable 
end  should  come,  they  would  have  chosen 


THE   USES   OF   DISAPPOINTMENT 


that  it  be  in  some  more  fitting  manner.  That 
the  career  of  so  good  and  useful  a  man  should 
be  thus  cut  short,  seemed  to  contradict  the 
fundamental  claims  of  their  religion. 

But  Isaiah,  the  noblest  prophet  of  that 
period,  records  a  certain  spiritual  experience 
that  came  with  the  disappointment.  "In  the 
year  that  King  Uzziah  died,  I  saw  the  Lord." 
The  King's  death  was  not  the  sole  cause  of 
the  vision.  The  Lord  can  be  seen  at  any 
time  by  the  pure  in  heart — Isaiah  himself  had 
seen  the  Lord  before.  It  was  the  occasion, 
however,  of  a  new  and  nobler  vision.  Isaiah 
was  a  young  man,  a  hero  worshipper,  who 
rejoiced  in  the  reign  of  this  glorious  king. 
Now  when  the  king  died  there  came  an  inev- 
itable readjustment  of  the  youthful  proph- 
et's hopes  for  the  nation's  prosperity.  Hero 
worship  somehow  passed  over  into  a  larger, 
truer  faith.  His  trust  and  pleasure  in  that 
which  was  seen  and  temporal,  passed  over 
into  a  deeper  trust  and  pleasure  in  that  which 
was  unseen  and  eternal.  The  failure  of  these 
sources  of  joy  and  anticipation  which  had  sur- 
rounded him  in  the  pleasant  valley  of  his 
earthly  circumstances,  moved  him  to  lift  anew 
his  eyes  to  the  abiding  hills  whence  cometh 
our  permanent  help.  "In  the  year  that  King 
Uzziah  died,  I  saw  the  Lord,  high  and  lifted 
up,  sitting  upon  his  throne."  He  saw  that 


8  THE)   USES   OF   DISAPPOINTMENT 

even  the  pains  and  sorrows  of  men  are  ruled 
by  and  held  within  the  grasp  of  a  kingly  prov- 
idence. This  vision  confronted  him  and  it  may 
suggest  to  us,  the  possible  uses  of  disappoint- 
ment. 

First  of  all  the  disappointment  compels  a 
readjustment  which  in  itself  affords  us  moral 
education.  The  old  prophets  were  statesmen 
quite  as  much  as  churchmen,  and  Isaiah  was 
a  genuine  patriot.  !His  hopes  and  plans  for 
his  state  had  heretofore  included  the  wise  and 
good  King  Uzziah.  Now  he  must  plan  with- 
out Uzziah.  The  compulsion  of  this  changed 
situation  had  something  to  do  with  his  seeing 
the  Lord  high  and  lifted  up,  as  he  had  never 
seen  Him  before.  His  moral  outlook  began 
to  sweep  a  broader  horizon.  The  materials 
he  had  been  using  were  now  broken  and  in- 
complete; he  had  to  look  elsewhere  to  gain 
the  elements  for  a  contiued  confidence  in  na- 
tional well-being.  He  looked  up,  and  in 
looking  up,  he  saw  the  Lord. 

In  our  own  lives  we  sometimes  get  into  the 
ruts.  Comfortable,  happy,  prosperous  ruts 
they  may  be,  and  like  country  wagons  we  run 
along  most  smoothly  when  we  are  in  them. 
Then  by  some  shifting,  which  the  constitution 
of  things  makes  inevitable  now  and  then,  we 
are  thrown  clear  out.  A  man  who  has  gained 


THK   USES   OF    DISAPPOINTMENT 


a  competence  loses  his  property  and  is  strug- 
gling again.  Another  man  io^es,  rr.s  health 
and  from  the  joyous  unconsciousness  of  days 
when  he  did  not  know  he  had  any  organs, 
he  passes  to  the  point  where  he  feels  as  if  all 
the  organs  of  his  body  were  in  conspiracy 
against  his  peace.  The  invention  of  some 
machine  throws  another  man  who  is  a  skillful 
craftsman  out  of  employment  and  he  finds 
himself  at  the  age  of  fifty  no  longer  in  de- 
mand. In  some  other  home,  death  comes 
and  takes  away  the  very  choicest  member  of 
the  family.  The  materials  that  remain  for 
family  joy,  seem  broken  and  fragmentary, 
while  the  saddened  hearts  "long  for  the  touch 
of  a  vanished  hand  and  the  sound  of  a  voice 
that  is  still."  In  each  case  the  good  King  is 
gone,  and  the  people  no  longer  live  under 
the  reign  of  the  beneficent  facts  that  made  life 
glad. 

The  results  of  these  disappointments,  al- 
most as-  common  as  sunsets,  are  various. 
Some  men  look  down  and  keep  on  looking 
down,  until  they  begin  to  covet  the  quiet  de- 
liverance of  that  grave  which  they  see  below 
them.  They  recklessly  take  poison  or  a  pistol 
and  put  themselves  out  of  the  way.  Disap- 
pointment ends  their  usefulness. 

Other  men  are  braver.  They  also  look 
down  but  they  do  it  in  the  spirit  of  the  soldier. 


10  THE   USES   OF    DISAPPOINTMENT 

They '.regard  themselves  as  pickets,  sent  out 
into  a  grange  country.  They  are  hungry, 
lonesome  and  -nervous  as  they  walk  to  and 
fro  in  the  dark  and  sleet.  Yet  they  have  a 
sense  of  obligation  to  stay  on  guard  until 
they  are  relieved  by  orders  from  some  supe- 
rior. They  live  on  in  somber  resignation, 
looking  down  all  the  while.  We  meet  such 
people  on  all  our  streets.  It  is  not  for  us  to 
judge  them  harshly.  It  is  one  thing  to  re- 
joice in  the  goodness  of  God  and  believe  the 
whole  Bible  and  keep  the  face  bright,  when 
everything  goes  your  way;  and  it  is  quite  an- 
other matter  to  hold  this  attitude  when  every- 
thing goes  against  you. 

Thd  prophet  in  the  year  of  his  greatest  dis- 
appointment looked  up,  and  saw  the  Lord. 
The  strange,  sad  experience  introduced  a 
factor  into  his  calculations  which  he  had  been 
neglecting.  In  similar  fashion,  the  materials 
out  of  which  we  are  to  build  our  further  ca- 
reer, our  national  strength,  our  family  happi- 
ness, our  general  usefulness  may  indeed  be 
changed  and  broken,  but  we  are  still  here. 
Our  responsibilities  and  obligations  may  be 
different  but  they  are  still  here.  We  are 
in  duty  bound  to  go  on  with  our  work 
under  the  changed  conditions.  And  best  of 
all,  God  is  here.  Whatever  He  permits  and 
allows  to  happen  in  His  own  world,  to  His 


THE  USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


own  children,  under  His  very  eye,cannot  be 
so  dreadful  but  that  it  is  capable  of  being 
laid  together  and  patiently  built  into  some- 
thing that  will  express  his  own  deeper  pur- 
pose. That  was  what  Isaiah  saw.  In  the 
year  the  great  king  died,  he  saw  the  Lord  and 
he  saw  the  nation,  different  but  still  glorious, 
being  built  into  some  fresh  expression  of  its 
life  under  the  eye  of  this  same  Lord  who  is 
forever  high  and  lifted  up. 

The  man  or  woman,  who  refuses  to  shirk 
or  run  in  the  hour  of  upheaval,  is  already 
gaining  by  that  constancy  a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  He  looks 
down  upon  the  broken  situation  where  it 
seems  as  if  all  the  kings  and  queens,  princes 
and  princesses  had  died  away  leaving  noth- 
ing royal  or  commanding,  and  then  he  looks 
up  and  sees  the  Lord  of  life.  He  determines 
to  adjust  himself  to  the  altered  situation  and 
do  his  best  in  building  something  other  than 
he  had  planned.  And  presently  he  discovers 
that  by  this  very  readjustment,  he  has  re- 
ceived moral  training  of  the  highest  sort. 

God  is  not  the  God  of  the  prosperous  alone 
— whole  rooms  in  his  house,  and  whole  wards 
in  his  city  are  filled  with  those  who  suiler 
adversity.  He  is  not  the  God  of  the  so  and 
and  healthy  alone — the  very  fact  that  He 
looks  down  upon  his  sick  children,  hears 


12  THE   USES  OF   DISAPPOINTMENT 

them  cry  and  call  to  him  in  their  pain,  and 
does  not  instantly  heal  them  as  in  His  Om- 
nipotence He  might,  indicates  that  in  his 
mind  there  are  other  and  greater  values  than 
bodily  comfort.  The  sick-bed,  the  invalid 
chair,  the  life  of  pain,  are  sometimes  the 
scenes  of  spiritual  victories,  of  saintly  tempers 
and  of  holy  companionships  unknown  as  yet 
to  those  who  roam  the  fields.  Many  a  soul 
has  sat  in  the  ruins  of  former  advantages  and 
out  of  them  has  seen  the  Lord  with  a  clear- 
ness, a  confidence  and  a  nearness  that  he 
never  knew  when  these  advantages  rose 
about  him  in  stately  splendor.  Advantages 
of  whatever  sort  are  not  ends  but  means  to 
an  end.  If  the  using  of  them  or  the  losing  of 
them  means*  by  that  much  a  stronger,  kinder, 
more  sympathetic  and  devout  nature,  then  we 
may  bless  God  when  they  are  given  and  bless 
God  when  they  are  taken  away.  Our  ac- 
count of  the  whole  matter  will  be  like  the 
prophet's — in  the  year  the  advantages  went, 
we  saw  the  Lord. 

I  am  not  theorizing  nor  trying  to  show  you 
some  theological  ingenuities.  I  am  lecturing 
on  history.  Those  features  in  the  landscape 
which  men  hastily  count  as  disadvantages  are 
frequently  its  best  points.  The  greatest  sci- 
entist of  the  century  suffered  almost  his  en- 
tire life  from  ill  health.  Charles  Darwin  was 


THE   USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT  13 

compelled  to  forego  the  pleasures  of  society, 
to  live  much  alone  and  out  of  doors.  His 
very  physical  condition  wrought  for  deliber- 
ateness,  thoughtfulness,  care  and  patience. 

Thomas  Huxley,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
\pugnaciously  healthy  and  vigorous.  He 
loved  the  public  platform,  the  scene  of  contro- 
versy, the  telling  phrases  that  confuse  and  put 
down  an  antagonist.  Both  men  were  con- 
spicuous in  the  scientific  world  but  one  will 
live  long  after  the  other  is  dead.  Scientific 
men  are  already  apologizing  for  Huxley's 
chip-on-the-shoulder  air,  for  his  dogmatism, 
for  his  special  pleading,  and  for  his  partisan 
attacks  on  religion. 

No  apologies  are  being  offered  for  Darwin. 
A  well  known  college  president  has  recently 
said  of  his  Origin  of  Species,  "It  has  certain 
traits  which  give  it  a  positon  almost  alone 
among  books  of  science.  There  is  in  it  no 
statement  of  fact  of  any  importance  which, 
during  the  forty  years  since  it  was  first  pub- 
lished has  been  shown  to  be  false.  In  its  the- 
oretical part  there  is  no  argument  which  has 
been  shown  to  be  unfair  or  fallacious.  In  all 
these  years  no  serious  objection  has  been 
raised  to  any  important  conclusion  of  his 
which  was  not  at  the  time  fully  anticipated 
and  frankly  met  by  him." 

To  claim  that  the  wide    difference    in  the 


14  THE  USES  OF    DISAPPOINTMENT 

work  of  these  two  men  was  due  solely  or 
mainly  to  their  different  habits  as  invited  or 
forced  by  differing  states  of  health,  would  be 
extravagant.  There  was  an  original  difference 
of  temperament  and  risposition.  But  Hux- 
ley's vigor  led  him  to  the  open  plaform,  to  the 
thick  of  controversy  in  London  life,  and 
served  to  intensify  that  which  scientific  men 
regret  in  his  work.  Darwin's  ill-health  which 
many  count  an  insurmountable  barrier  to 
great  achievement,  inclined  him  to  retirement, 
to  the  open  fields,  to  careful,  accurate,  patient 
habits;  and  these  qualities  all  added  to  his  use- 
fulness in  extending  tr^e  field  of  knowledge. 

In  the  ninth  chapter  of  John's  gospel  you 
find  the  account  of  a  man  born  blind.  His 
lack  of  eyes-  cut  him  off  from  self-supporting 
work  in  that  rude  time,  and  he  was  forced  to 
beg.  For  years  he  saw  nothing,  but  his  very 
blindness  at  last  brought  him  to  see  the  Lord 
as  few  of  his  fellow  citizens  ever  saw  Him. 
The  sure  confidence  of  this  man  that  along 
the  line  of  obedience  to  Christ  blessings  are 
to  be  found;  the  straightforward  way  in 
which  he  used  his  experiences  for  further 
guidance,  reasoning  from  facts  as  he  knew 
them  to  warranted  conclusions:  the  open  at- 
titude of  mind  and  heart  to  further  gracious 
disclosures  that  might  come  in  his  expanding 
Christian  experience — all  this  has  made  him 


THE   USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT  15 

one  of  the  most  helpful  teachers  of  pure  re- 
ligion and  sound  theology  in  Christendom. 
How  many  people  having  eyes  to  see  and 
money  to  throw  away,  have  failed  to  bless  the 
world  as  much  as  did  this  man  born  blind 
who  sat  in  Jerusalem  and  begged!  The  very 
circumstances  that  seem  to  compel  an  unre- 
lieved disappointment  may  indeed  become 
the  occasion  of  a  spiritual  experience  and 
training  which  outranks  all  surface  prosperity. 
A  former  governor  of  this  State  was  the 
possessor  of  many  milions.  He  was  once 
traveling  in  Europe  with  his  family  for  their 
comfort  and  pleasure.  The  minds  of  the 
parents  were  all  the  time  full  of  plans  for  their 
only  son.  If  the  boy  should  choose  a  busi- 
ness career,  the  fact  that  the  father  owned 
such  large  and  various  properties  would  open 
a  magnificent  opportunity.  If  he  showed  an 
inclination  for  political  life,  the  father's  expe- 
rience as  Governor  and  as  United  States  Sen- 
ator, and  his  wide  acquaintance  in  the  coun- 
cils of  the  State  and  Nation,  would  give  the 
boy  an  immense  advantage  over  his  fellows. 
If  he  chose  any  one  of  the  learned  professions 
his  equipment  and  opportunity  could  be  of 
the  best.  In  the  midst  of  these  high  antici- 
pations cherished  by  the  parents  regarding 
their  only  child,  the  son  fell  sick  and  died  in 
sunny  Italy. 


16  THE  USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 

The  light  instantly  went  out  of  the  eyes  of 
the  father  and  mother.  He  was  their  all. 
They  were  beginning  to  grow  old  and  the  joys 
they  had  planned  for  the  remaining  years 
were  bound  up  with  the  unfolding  career  of 
this  child.  They  had  traveled  far  and  wide; 
they  had  tasted  the  many  pleasures  of  the 
world;  they  had  reaped  a  large  measure  of 
real  success,  and  now  the  mere  prospect  of 
living  on  to  spend  the  income  of  their  many 
millions  in  loneliness,  looked  flat  and  dull. 

But  in  the  very  year  that  the  royal  fact  in 
their  lives  was  taken  away,  they  looked  up 
and  saw  the  Lord  of  wider  and  more  perma- 
nent values  in  a  new  way.  Whether  they 
could  have  thus  seen  Him  without  the  sor- 
row, no  one  can  say.  The  fact  is  that  with 
the  sorrow  came  the  purpose  of  building  a 
memorial  to  the  son  in  a  splendid  educational 
institution  that  would  for  all  the  years  to 
come  serve  the  interests  of  this  great  state. 
Stanford  University  now  ranks  as  the  richest 
University  in  America  and  bids  fair  to  stand 
among  the  first  in  the  quality  of  its  work. 
Thousands  of  young  people  in  California,  and 
from  all  the  States  of  the  union  and  from  the 
lands  beyond  the  seas  are  rising  up  and  call- 
ing the  names  of  these  parents  who  suffered 
yonder  in  Italy  and  out  of  whose  suffering 
that  new  purpose  was  born,  blessed. 


THE   USES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 


The  results  of  disappointment  have  repeat- 
edly proven  gracious  and  permanently  benefi- 
cent. This  is  one  illustration  out  of  many. 
Girard  College,  Wellesley  College,  and  Johns 
Hopkins  University  all  sprang  out  of  disap- 
pointing situations,  out  of  what  the  world 
hastily  calls  hard  and  thorny  experience.  The 
hopes  and  ambitions  of  our  hearts  are  some- 
times pruned  with  a  sharp  knife,but  in  the  end 
there  is  the  prized  ability  to  bring  forth  more 
fruit. 

The  disappointment  brings  also  a  clearer 
(recognition  of  new  and  important  elements  in 
personal  character.  "Blessed  are  they  that 
mourn."  These  words  of  Christ  seem  to  put  a 
premium  on  sorrow.  They  seem  inconsistent 
with  the  purpose  of  Him  who  came  that  our 
joy  might  be  full.  But  we  must  learn  to  read 
them  aright.  Blessed  are  those  who  can  and 
do  mourn.  The  capacity  for  suffering  has 
value  in  any  nature.  A  good  man  sees  his 
mother  growing  old,  feeble,  broken,  and  it 
makes  his  heart  sad  and  pensive.  When  she 
dies,  he  mourns.  The  barbarous  man  in  some 
island  of  the  sea  watches  his  mother  growing 
old  and  shuts  her  in  a  hut  until  she  starves  to 
death,  or  he  quietly  strangles  her  and  then 
goes  out  to  fish,  glad  to  be  rid  of  the  care  of  a 
useless  person.  He  does  not  mourn.  Our 


18  THE  USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 

decision  is  soon  made  as  to  which  one  of  these 
men  is  "blessed."  In  a  world  where  age  and 
death  are  natural,  inevitable  facts,  "blessed 
are  those  that  mourn." 

I  shall  never  forget  my  visit  to  the  home  of 
a  brother  pastor  in  Boston  a  few  days  after  his 
little  daughter  died.  We  sat  together  in  the 
quiet  of  his  study  and  talked  until  the  sun 
went  down  and  the  darkness  fell  about  us. 
As  the  sight  of  his  strong  face  faded  away  in 
the  shadows,  he  opened  his  heart  and  told  me 
how  strange  and  changed  the  world  was  with- 
out her.  He  told  me  how  he  felt  a  new  ten- 
derness and  sympathy  for  all  the  people  in 
the  world  who  suffered.  He  felt  as  if  his 
whole  left  side  had  become  a  heart  and 
through  this  larger  heart  there  flowed  a  lov- 
ing sympathy  for  the  world's  sorrow,  that  he 
had  never  known  before.  He  quoted  from 
the  psalm,  "Thou  hast  enlarged  me  when  I 
was  in  distress."  There  had  been  added  to 
his  nature  new  capacities  for  these  new  ex- 
periences to  occupy. 

This  is  exactly  what  Isaiah  said — "In  the 
year  that  King  Uzziah  died  I  saw  the  Lord/' 
We  do  not  see  the  Lord  by  looking  off  at 
some  huge,  strange,  white  figure  as  people  in 
New  York  harbor  look  up  at  the  Goddess  of 
Liberty.  We  see  the  Lord  by  a  community 
of  experience  with  Him,  by  a  growing  recog- 


THE   USES   OF    DISAPPOINTMENT  19 

nition  of  His  excellence  and  of  His  nearness 
to  us,  by  a  richer  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
He  is  reproducing  Himself  in  us,  making  us 
his  children  after  his  likeness  and  image.  To 
grow  in  this  life  is  to  see  the  Lord.  The 
pure  in  heart  see  God  in  their  own  pure 
hearts  for  He  lives  there.  It  is  through  these 
gracious,  softening,  refining  and  enlarging 
eperiences,  that  we  see  the  Lord. 

The  world  needs  these  men  who  have  seen 
the  Lord  through  the  fellowship  of  suffering. 
It  has  work  for  them  that  none  other  can  per- 
form. In  a  European  gallery  there  hangs  a 
great  painting  of  the  Crucifixion.  The  artist 
has  pictured  a  group  of  cherubs  at  the  head  of 
the  Cross  engaged  in  examining  the  crown  of 
thorns.  One  of  them  is  feeling  the  sharp  point 
of  a  thorn  with  the  most  curious,  interested 
look.  It  is  all  strange  to  him  for  he  has 
never  felt  the  prick  of  pain.  He  wonders 
what  thorns  are  and  whence  comes  the  look 
of  anguish  on  the  face  of  Christ. 

But  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  are  human  fig- 
ures. They  can  enter  into  the  meaning  of  it 
all.  They  too  have  worn  their  crown  of 
thorns  and  have  felt  the  spear  thrust  in  the 
side.  And  when  the  eternal  evangel  is  to  be 
carried  to  the  waiting  nations,  the  God  of 
wisdom  does  not  commission  the  innocent, 
happy  angels  who  hover  in  the  upper  air. 


20  THE   USES   OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 

They  could  never  preach  on  the  atonement. 
They  could  not  hear  the  message  of  divine 
comfort  to  a  sinful  and  suffering  world.  The 
spirit  of  the  Lord  is  not  upon  them  to  heal 
the  broken  hearted,  to  speak  deliverance  to 
the  captives  or  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised.  The  cherubs  are  beautiful  as  they 
hang  in  the  gallery,  but  they  are  useless  in  this 
lower,  troubled  world.  For  the  sublime  min- 
istry of  the  Gospel,  the  God  of  all  wisdom 
commissions  men  and  women  at  the  foot  of 
the  cross  who  have  suffered  in  their  turn. 
The  world's  redemption  is  carried  forward 
mainly  by  those  tear-stained  lives  that  have 
seen  the  light  die  out  and  then  have  seen  it 
come  again — a  new,  strange,  softer  light  by 
which  they  walk  and  by  which  they  guide  the 
heavy  hearts  of  others  in  the  way  of  peace. 

The  disappointment  also  serves  to  bring  the 
recognition  of  a  providence  large  enough  to 
include  painful  sorrow  among  its  forces.  The 
artists  miss  the  mark  when  they  paint  their 
angels  always  in  white  raiment.  The  angels 
of  the  Lord  come  often  draped  in  gray  or 
black.  They  sometimes  come  in  the  ordi- 
nary dress  of  everyday  life.  The  ability  to 
recognize  them  when  they  come  however 
clothed  as  the  messengers  of  a  wise,  patient  ef- 
fort to  bring  us  up  to  the  point  where  we  shall 


THE  USES  OF    DISAPPOINTMENT  21 


have  seen,  felt,  known  and  become  all  that 
belongs  to  our  entire  humanity,  will  afforcl  us 
enduring  help.  "In  the  year  that  King  Uz- 
ziah  died  I  saw  the  Lord,  high  and  lifted  up, 
sitting  upon  his  throne."  His  unhurried, 
undefeated  purposes  were  in  nowise  being 
thwarted  by  the  disease  that  had  removed  the 
illustrious  servant  of  his  chosen  people.  The 
comprehensive  grasp  of  his  providence  held 
this  sore  disappointment  as  an  obedient  min- 
ister before  his  throne. 

I  make  no  sort  of  attempt  to  interpret  or 
explain  all  the  hard,  puzzling  experiences  that 
fall  into  our  lives.  The  facts  are  not  all  in  to 
warrant  such  final  effort.  The  instruments 
for  complete  analysis  are  not  yet  in  our  hands. 
The  meaning  of  much  of  earth's  familiar  ex- 
perience shade  off  into  the  mysterious  un- 
unknown.  We  are  compelled  to  admit  that 
"clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  Him" 
even  while  we  rejoice  in  believing  that  "right- 
eousness and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of 
his  throne." 

I  would  that  we  might  banish  the  thought 
that  all  suffering  surely  means  that  God  is 
(punishing  us  for  some  fault.  Distress  stands 
at  the  end  of  all  disobedience,  to  tell  us  that 
disobedience  is  wrong  but  that  is  not  the  only 
place  where  distress  stands.  The  way  of  the 
transgressor  is  hard  and  it  ought  to  be  hard, 


THE    USES    OF   DISAPPOINTMENT 


but  this  single  statement  does  not  give  a  com- 
plete account  of  all  the  hard  ways.  Confident 
theologians  have  sometimes  told  fond  moth- 
ers that  God  took  their  babies  away  from  them 
in  death,  because  they  loved  them  too  much. 
It  was  an  astonishing  claim — as  if  a  mother's 
love  which  most  resembles  the  love  of  God, 
could  ever  be  too  great!  Boys  who  went  fish- 
ing or  swimming  on  Sunday  and  were 
drowned  have  been  held  up  as  an  awful  ex- 
ample of  God's  judgment  on  the  desecration 
of  his  day.  The  real  reason  the  boys  were 
drowned  was  that  they  could  not  swim  or 
were  taken  with  cramp — if  they  had  gotten  in 
beyond  their  depth  under  similar  conditions, 
the  water  would  have  drowned  them  just  as 
promptly  on  Monday. 

A  missionary  among  the  Indians  once  fool- 
ishly told  them  that  if  they  planted  their  corn 
on  Sunday  it  would  not  grow,  or  if  it  did  come 
up,  that  it  would  not  ear.  In  that  perversity 
of  spirit  which  we  all  understand,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  test  his  statement.  They  planted 
one  acre  of  corn  on  Sunday.  They  hoed  it 
on  Sunday  and  worked  it  no  other  day  but 
Sunday  throughout  the  season.  They  took 
special  pains  with  it  and  when  fall  came 
it  yielded  more  corn  than  any  other  acre  in 
the  reservation.  Then  the  Indians  laughed 
at  the  missionary  and  would  not  go  to  church. 


THE   USES   OF   DISAPPOINTMENT  23 

There  is  a  penalty  for  hoeing  corn  on  Sun- 
day, or  for  doing  any  sort  of  work  seven  days 
in  the  week,  but  it  is  not  the  one  the  mission- 
ary named.  The  corn  may  grow  to  its  full  size 
but  the  man  will  not  grow  to  his  full  size. 
There  is  something  in  him.  that  will  not  grow 
at  all  unless  the  elements  of  character  for 
which  the  Sabbath  was  appointed  are  allowed 
their  full  opportunity. 

The  whole  habit  of  trying  to  relate  every 
physical  event  to  some  hidden  sin  against  God 
is  idle  and  vain.  The  more  excellent  way  is 
to  recognize  those  physical  events  that  bring 
us  pain  as  the  inevitable  results  of  certain 
conditions  in  the  natural  order  where  God  in 
His  wisdom  has  placed  us.  In  this  enfolding 
order  there  is  a  certain  broad  impartiality 
and  inevitableness — the  sun  rises  on  the  evil 
and  the  good,  the  rain  falls  on  the  just  and  on 
the  unjust.  God  is  not  in  the  habit  of  con- 
stantly thrusting  in  His  hand  to  interrupt  this 
order,  for  either  good  or  ill.  The  possibility 
of  such  unusual  action  is  always  there  but  the 
evidence  for  it  must  be  clear  and  strong  be- 
fore we  credit  it.  And  when  those  results  are 
disappointing,  our  source  of  help  is  in  the 
confidence  that  the  order  itself  and  all  its  out- 
comes are  held  within  the  grasp  of  a  large, 
wise,  invincible  providence,  which  holds 
steadily  in  view  certain  beneficent  ends.  We 


24  THE  USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT 

can  believe  upon  the  statement  of  scripture 
and  upon  the  induction  of  a  vast  amount  of 
human  experience  that  "all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good"  to  the  right  sort  of  people, 
to  them  that  love  God.  His  great  ends 
which  are  pre-eminently  those  that  certain  to 
fulness  and  righteousness  of  personal  charac- 
ter, are  not  defeated  by  the  pains  and  griefs 
of  ordinary  earthly  experience.  On  the  con- 
trary, these  become  the  quiet,  patient  ser- 
vants of  His  purpose  for'  the  refining  and  en- 
richment of  our  human  nature.  In  the  very 
year  the  disappointment  falls,  we  see  our 
Lord  anew,  high  and  lifted  up,  sitting  upon 
that  throne  which  rules  the  darnkness  as  well 
as  the  light. 

In  the  spirit  of  this  confidence  that  "the 
the  whole  heart  and  meaning  of  the  world  as 
God  has  made  it  is  in  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant with  humanity's  deepest  and  holiest  de- 
sires," we  may  go>  still  farther.  The  clearest 
eyes  are  those  that  have  been  washed  in  tears. 
The  finer  insight  belongs  to  those  who  like 
Christ  have  "learned  obedience"  and  many 
other  priceless  lessons  "through  the  things 
they  have  suffered."  The  pressure  of  adver- 
sity and  disappointment  brings  a  prepared- 
ness for  new  and  nobler  forms  of  service. 

On  the  last  page  of  John's  gospel,  you  will 


THE  USES  OF   DISAPPOINTMENT  25 

find  a  single  statement  full  of  potent  sugges- 
tion. After  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  there 
came  three  days  of  anxiety,,  doubt,  sorrow 
and  disappointment.  The  disciples  trusted 
that  it  had  been  He  who  should  have  re- 
deemed Israel,  and  now  he  lay  dead  in  Jo- 
seph's tomb.  But  Easter  morning  came  and 
with  it  convincing  evidence  that  their  Lord 
was  still  alive.  In  the  very  ecstasy  of  dis- 
covery that  made  the  whole  world  new,  they 
cried  to  all  they  met,  "We  have  seen  the 
Lord."  And  so  had  many  careless  persons 
seen  him  through  all  the  three  years  of  his 
public  ministry.  But  never  like  this!  Out 
of  the  pain  of  seeing  him  die,  out  of  the  dis- 
appointment and  loneliness  that  fell  like  lead 
upon  their  hearts,  out  of  the  great  fear  that 
they  might  never  see  him  again,  there  came 
an  immortal  vision  such  as  they  never  had  be- 
fore! It  was  a  vision  of  the  continued  un- 
broken, and  ever-expanding  life  of  this  same 
Master  whom  they  had  known  and  loved  in 
the  simple  earthly  associations.  In  the 
strength  of  that  vision  of  a  risen,  reigning 
Christ,  holding  all  things  within  His  redemp- 
tive purpose,  they  went  out  conquering  and 
to  conquer.  They  began  to  spread  through 
all  the  world  the  glad  tidings  of  life  and  im- 
mortality brought  to  light.  They  were  thence- 
forth children  of  the  resurrection,  living  by 
the  power  of  an  endless  life. 


26  THE    USES    OF   DISAPPOINTMENT 

The  night  brings  out  the  stars  unseen  by 
day.  The  dark  hours  of  disappointment  reveal 
abiding  realities  in  the  spiritual  world  which 
stood  before  unnoticed.  Thus  the  uses  and 
the  gains  of  suffering  are  many,  and  in  all 
these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors 
through  Him  that  loved  us,  for  we  have  come 
to  know  that  neither  life  nor  death,  nor  an- 
gels, nor  principalities,  nor  things  present  nor 
things  to  come  shall  be  able  to  separate  us 
from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord. 


THE   USES  OF  DISAPPOINTMENT  27 

the  eternal  Goodness 

I  dimly  guess  from  blessings  known 

Of  greater  out  of  sight, 
And  with  the  chastened  Psalmist  own 

His  judgments  too  are  right. 

And  if  my  heart  and  flesh  are  weak 

To  bear  an  untried  pain, 
The  bruised  reed  He  will  not  break 

But  strengthen  and  sustain. 

I  know  not  what  the  future  hath 

Of  marvel  or  surprise, 
Assured  alone  that  life  and  death 

His  mercy  underlies. 

And  so  beside  the  silent  sea 

I  wait  the  muffled  oar; 
No  harm  from  Him  can  come  to  me 

On  ocean  or  on  shore. 

I  know  not  where  his  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air; 
I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  His  love  and  care. 

— Whittier. 


lawman's  Tflse  of  tbe  Bible 


"And  he  had  in  his  hand  a 
little  book,  open"      Rev.  10:2. 

|N  a  vision,  John  saw  one  of  God's  mes- 
sengers coming  down  from  heaven  for  ser- 
vice on  the  earth.  He  was  like  a  mighty  ;u'- 
gel,  clothed  with  a  cloud  and  wearing  a 
rainbow  on  his  head.  His  face  shone  like  the  sun 
with  light  and  love.  He  stood,  ready  for  large  use- 
fulness, his  right  foot  upon  the  land,  his  left  foot 
upon  the  sea.  And  in  his  hand,  as  the  main  in- 
strument of  his  power,  he  held  neither  a  sword  nor 
a  coin,  but  a  little  book,  open.  It  is  the  characteris- 
tic attitude  of  God's  mightiest  servants.  They 
carry  on  their  work  by  offering  men  the  truth. 

We  do  not  know  what  book  it  was.  We  may  not 
be  interested  in  detailed  interpretations  of  the  sym- 
bols and  allegories  in  these  chapters  of  Revela- 
tion. They  have  been  made  a  kind  of  curiosity 
shop  where  those  who  love  oddities  could  fiir.l 
what  they  chose.  Some  Protestants  have  pelted 
the  Catholics  with  its  phrases,  identifying  the  Pope 
with  "Anti-Christ"  and  the  Roman  Church  with  tbe 
"Scarlet  Woman."  And  Catholics  have  retorted 
with  just  as  little  sense  or  reason,  making  Luther 
the  Anti-Christ  and  the  spirit  of  sectarianism 
among  us,  the  Beast.  It  was  poor  business  all 
around.  These  oriental  visions,  John  says,  were  of 
"things  which  were  shortly  to  come  to  pass."  To 
carry  them  away  down  into  the  Twentieth  Century 


7 he  Laymau's  Use  of  the  Bible 


and  attempt  to  fill  them  in  with  modern  names  is 
a  waste  of  time  and  bad  for  our  spiritual  health. 
We  may  as  well  frankly  confess  our  inability  to  de- 
fine precisely  what  "little  book"  it  was  the  mes- 
senger had  in  his  hand. 

But  it  was  a  good  book  no  doubt,  probably  the 
best  book  he  could  find.  I  may  therefore  use  the 
text  as  indicating  a  characteristic  attitude  of  a  ser- 
vant of  God  and  speak  of  "the  Layman's  Use  of  the 
Bible,"  the  best  book  any  man  can  have  in  his 
hand.  By  laymen,  I  mean  all  men,  women  and 
children  outside  of  the  pulpit.  It  is  not  my  pur- 
pose to  preach  on  inspiration,  verbal,  plenary  or 
otherwise.  I  shall  not  discuss  higher  criticism, 
lower  criticism  or  that  criticism  which  is  only  mid- 
dling. The  average  layman's  interest  in  the  tech- 
nical questions,  the  composite  character  of  the 
Hexateuch,  the  second  Isaiah,  the  date  of  Daniel 
and  all  the  rest,  is  very  slight.  This  will  be  a 
practical  sermon  on  the  ordinary  use  of  the  scrip- 
tures. The  Bible  is  not  a  thing  to  be  worshipped, 
or  merely  to  be  sworn  by,  or  to  pass  fierce  resolu- 
tions about — it  is  a  thing  to  be  used  like  any  other 
one  of  God's  good  gifts  to  man.  It  ought  to  be  a 
book  held  in  the  hand,  open. 

I 

There  are  three  things  I  wish  to  say.  First  of 
all  the  layman's  use  of  the  Bible  had  better  be  dis- 
criminating. "He  had  in  his  hand  'a  little  book,'  " 
convenient,  accessible,  within  the  compass  of  his 
time  and  interest. 

While  a  pastor  in  Cincinnati  my  neighbor's  little 
daughter  died  of  diphtheria.  They  were  irreli- 
gious people  but  they  asked  me  to  conduct  a  funeral 
service.  A  few  days  later  the  father  told  me  he  had 


The  Laymaris  Use  of  the  Bible 


decided  that  they  had  been  doing  wrong  in  living 
for  years  without  a  Bible  in  their  house;  that  per- 
haps the  little  daughter's  death  was  in  some  meas- 
ure a  punishment  for  their  ungodly  carelessness. 
He  asked  me  to  accompany  him  to  the  bookstore 
and  to  aid  him  in  selecting  a  Bible.  I  went  gladly, 
and  suggested  a  Bible  something  like  the  one  I 
used  myself.  But  he  wanted  a  larger  one,  a  big 
one  with  clasps,  with  a  place  for  portraits  and  a 
family  record.  One  that  would  lie  conspicuously 
on  his  center  table,  where,  as  he  said,  "everybody 
who  came  in  could  see  he  had  a  Bible  in  his  house.'* 
There  were  two  that  attracted  him,  one  for  eleven 
and  one  for  fourteen  dollars.  The  latter  was  four 
pounds  heavier  than  the  other.  He  finally  decided 
in  favor  of  the  fourteen  dollar  one.  He  was  will- 
ing to  pay  three  dollars  extra  for  the  sake  of  hav- 
ing a  Bible  four  pounds  more  inconvenient  and  in- 
accessible than  the  other.  It  was  a  volume  no  one 
would  ever  think  of  holding  in  his  hand  open. 

I  speak  of  this  because  it  represents  an  attitude 
of  mind  not  uncommon  among  people  deficient  in 
spiritual  knowledge.  They  feel  that  it  is  a  safe 
thing  for  a  house  or  a  ship  or  a  lodge  to  have  a 
Bible  aboard.  It  acts  as  a  sort  of  charm  or  amu- 
let. It  outranks  a  horseshoe  above  the  door.  Su:h 
a  feeling  is  as  superstitious  and  as  meaningless  as 
the  feeling-  of  the  South  Sea  Islander  for  his  fetich 
or  of  the  Chinese  for  his  kitchen  gods.  The  scrip- 
tures themselves  give  no  encouragement  to  the  no- 
tion that  God's  favor  and  help  can  be  thus  mechan- 
ically conveyed.  The  Bible  to  possess  efficacy 
must  have  ready  opportunity  for  gaining  access  to 
the  mind  and  heart — it  must  be  an  open,  practical, 
usable  volume. 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 


I  am  confident  that  more  people  would  use  the 
scriptures  and  use  them  more  effectively  if  we  had 
a  selected  Bible  not  including  all  that  we  find  in  the 
entire  collection  of  sixty-six  books.  Surely  child- 
ren would  fare  better.  There  are  many  things  in 
your  Bible  which  you  are  not  prepared  to  take  up 
with  them  yet.  The  stories  of  Lot,  Samson  and 
Absalom;  the  shrewd,  bitter,  skeptical  sayings  in 
Ecclesiastes;  the  cursing  Psalms  where  the  author 
commends  the  man  who  will  take  his  enemy's  Ihtle 
ones  and  dash  their  brains  out  against  a  stone;  the 
imperfect  moralities  of  the  early  times;  the  doc- 
trines touching  hell,  the  devil  and  the  darker  sides 
of  the  moral  problem — these  are  not  good  food  for 
children.  You  do  not  want  to  tell  them  any  lies 
and  you  are  not  prepared  to  discuss  these  matters 
to  the  bottom  with  their  immature  minds.  To  turn  a 
child  loose  in  the  whole  Bible  is  to  load  him  with 
questions  for  which  his  day  has  not  yet  come  and 
to  burden  the  parent  with  embarrassments  needless 
to  be  borne. 

A  little  book  would  be  better  or  perhaps  three 
little  books,  for  home  use,  Sunday  School  use  and 
to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  children  generallv. 
The  Bible  is  not  a  single  book:  it  is  a  library  of 
books,  a  literature.  We  do  not  turn  a  child  out  '-no 
the  whole  of  English  literature  as  soon  as  he  knows 
his  letters.  There  are  first  readers,  second  readers, 
third  readers,  making  the  way  easier  by  progress- 
ive steps.  The  child  is  happier,  and  accomplishes 
more  for  having  these  little. books  given  him.  He 
can  compass  and  master  them  and  thus  his  advance 
is  encouraged. 

Three  little  books  of  scripture — the  first  taking 
up  the  pure,  sweet,  wholesome  stories  of  the  Old 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 


Testament,  the  simpler  and  easier  Psalms,  such  as 
the  twenty-third,  twenty-fourth,  eighty-fourth,  '.he 
one  hundred  and  twenty-first! 

The  second  book  taking  up  the  story  of  the  life 
of  Christ,  his  deeds  of  love,  his  plainer  teachings, 
the  parables,  the  sermon  on  the  Mount,  leaving  out 
for  the  time  the  questions  involved  in  such  passages 
as  the  cursing  of  the  fig  tree,  the  sending  of  the 
devils  into  the  swine,  the  words  about  the  unpar- 
donable sin! 

The  third  book  including  more  of  the  Psalms, 
the  choicer  chapters  in  Deuteronomy  and  Isaiah, 
the  story  of  the  early  church  with  selections  from 
the  writings  of  the  apostles, — the  eighth  chapter  of 
Romans,  the  thirteenth  of  First  Corinthians,  the 
last  chapters  in  Ephesians,  and  in  Philippians,  and 
the  whole  of  John's  first  letter.  The  more  difficult 
doctrinal  and  ethical  discussions  could  be  safely  left 
for  further  maturity  of  mind.  In  the  last  analysis 
anyway,  it  will  be  the  plain  fact  that  God  so  loved 
the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son  that  will 
save  children  and  adults,  and  not  some  intricate 
theory  of  the  atonement  however  learnedly  rea- 
soned! 

These  are  mere  suggestions  and  are  not  intended 
as  an  exhaustive  arrangement  of  scripture — more 
would  come  into  each  of  the  little  books  than  is 
named  here.  But  some  judicious  selection  taking 
into  account  the  degree  of  mental  and  moral  ad- 
vancement of  each  child,  and  the  arrangement  of 
such  suitable  scripture  into  little  books  that  could 
be  held  in  the  hand  open  and  taken  up  into  mind 
and  heart  without  reserve,  would,  I  am  confident, 
aid  the  cause  of  useful  Bible  knowledge. 

The   need   at   this   point   is   certainly    sore.     The 


6  The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 

ignorance  of  young  people  touching  the  scriptures 
cries  out  for  some  radical  measures.  President 
Thwing  shocked  us  by  the  revelations  he  made  in 
his  widely  read  magazine  article.  Any  teacher  in 
our  Sunday  Schools  could  parallel  his  showings. 
The  members  of  a  class  of  boys  and  girls  were  once 
asked  to  write  what  they  knew  about  Abraham. 
One  boy  brought  forward  the  following:  "Abraham 
was  a  Jew  and  the  father  of  Lot.  He  had  two 
wives,  one  named  Ishmael  and  the  other  Ha  gar. 
He  kept  one  at  home  but  he  turned  the  other  out 
into  the  desert  where  she  became  a  pillar  of  salt  in 
the  day  time  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night." 

Many  children  start  out  at  some  stage  of  their 
development  to  read  the  Bible  through  in  course. 
They  are  told  that  such  a  performance  is  well 
pleasing  to  the  Lord,  a  kind  of  "tour  de  force"  like 
a  Moslem's  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  or  a  Romanist's 
ascent  of  the  Holy  Staircase  at  Rome,  on  his  knees. 
Or  they  may  be  encouraged  to  do  it  for  the  sake  of 
a  reward.  My  father  offered  me  ten  dollars  if  1 
would  read  the  Bible  through.  That  was  a  lot  oi 
pocket  money  to  be  held  before  a  boy  and  I  started 
bravely  in  at  Genesis  working  off  two  chapters  a 
day.  I  got  on  fairly  well  with  Genesis  and  Exodus, 
though  I  wondered  at  some  of  the  strange  things 
I  found, — they  seemed  queer  in  God's  book.  I  had 
some  dismal  hours  in  getting  through  the  dull 
stretches  of  pedigrees  where  Abinadab  begat  Ahi- 
melech  and  Ahimelech  begat  somebody  else.  Ji 
was  dry  work  in  Leviticus  with  its  detailed  direc- 
tions as  to  how  the  priests  were  to  prepare  sacri- 
fices for  the  altar  and  carry,  on  the  elaborate  ritual 
— a  portion  of  scripture  about  as  interesting  and 
vital  to  a  ten  year  old  boy  as  so  many  chapters 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 


from  "Chitty  on  Pleading,"  rehearsing  principles 
of  the  common  law  of  England.  I  finally  gave  it 
up,  deciding  it  would  be  easier  to  earn  that  ten  dol- 
lars by  selling  old  iron,  rags  or  empty,  bottles. 
What  I  needed  was  a  little  book  in  my  hand  open, 
accessible,  within  my  reach.  The  Bible  has  many 
pages  where  the  min4  of  a  ten  year  old  boy  will  re- 
spond but  he  will  not  readily  find  them  by  taking 
the  whole  sixty-six  books  in  course. 

Many  grown  people  fare  little  better.  They  do 
not  enjoy  their  Bibles,  they  do  not  use  them,  be- 
cause there  is  so  much  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand, or  of  which  they  fail  to  see  the  bearing.  The 
fact  that  it  is  all  bound  up  together  perplexes  and 
discourages  them  from  any  honest,  thorough  at- 
tempt at  knowing  the  Bibles.  If  a  man  were  to  start 
from  here  to  walk  across  the  continent  twenty-five 
miles  a  day,  he  would  have  a  good  time  up  through 
the  Sacramento  Valley.  He  would  enjoy  the  foot- 
hills around  Auburn  and  Applegate.  He  would  be 
uplifted  and  inspired  on  the  crest  of  the  Sierras 
and  along  the  Truckee  river  on  the  other  side.  But 
when  he  got  well  out  into  Nevada,  on  towards  Win- 
nemucca,  the  dull  stretches  of  alkali  plain  and  sage 
brush  would  be  depressing.  He  might  suppose 
that  such  a  district  had  some  use  in  the  universe 
but  for  the  life  of  him  he  could  not  tell  what  it  was. 
It  would  fail  utterly  in  its  appeal  to  him.  His  twen- 
ty-five miles  a  day  there  would  be  dull,  stale  and 
unprofitable — he  would  be  apt  to  give  it  up  and 
turn  back  to  California.  He  had  better  turn  back. 
In  a  complete  account  of  the  universe,  Nevada 
would  have  to  go  in,  but  it  is  not  an  inspiring  place 
for  ordinary  people  to  go  for  a  walk. 

In  a  complete  account  of  the  historical  processes 


8  The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 

where  lies  imbedded  the  revelation  God  made  to 
men  in  the  Bible,  Leviticus,  Chronicles,  Esther  and 
the  Song  of  Solomon  would  all  have  to  go  in.  The 
imperfect  moralities,  the  stories  of  Lot  and  Sam- 
son, the  frankly  commended  cruelty  and  treachery 
of  Jael,  the  cynicism  of  Ecclesiastes  and  the  impre- 
catory Psalms  would  all  have  to  appear.  We  want 
the  history  of  the  whole  movement  painted  as  it 
was,  warts  and  all.  But  for  ordinary  use,  home  use, 
Sunday  School  use,  personal  devotional  use, — as  a 
place  for  the  mind  and  heart  to  go  and  walk  for 
fifteen  minutes  a  day — there  are  considerable  dis- 
tricts that  are  not  available.  A  little  book  in  the 
hand  open  to  every  eager  mind,  without  reserve  or 
apology,  would  be  of  more  service. 

The  thought  of  a  "mutilated  Bible"  may  pain  some 
devout  natures.  It  seems  like  taking  au  unwar- 
ranted liberty  with  this  loved  volume.  But  we  sepa- 
rate the  Psalms  and  even  make  selections  from  them 
to  be  bound  up  in  convenient  size  for  responsive 
reading,  without  a  thought  of  irreverence.  We  circu- 
late the  New  Testament  alone.  We  bind  single 
gospels  in  vest  pocket  size  and  young  men  carry 
them  for  special  study.  The  Moulton  "Modern 
Readers  Bible"  goes  but  one  step  further,  printing 
a  little  group  of  biographies,  of  poems,  of  songs 
or  of  sermons  to  bring  out  the  literary  characteris- 
tics of  the  Bible  and  to  popularize  it  as  literature. 
The  more  radical  arrangement  suggested  above  is 
but  a  continuance  of  a  method  with  which  we  are 
already  familiar. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  we  mutilate  our  own  Bibles 
by  ignoring  portions  of  them.  The  average  Bible 
is  well  worn  only  in  the  Psalms  and  gospels, 
with  some  traces  of  use  in  other  helpful  parts,  but 


The  Layman 's  Use  of  the  Bible 


with  certain  books  fresh  and  clean  as  when  they 
left  the  press.  How  many  of  you  have  read  ten 
minutes  altogether  in  the  last  ten  years  in  Nahum. 
Habakkuk,  Obadiah  and  Zechariah?  The  Bible 
would  gain  in  interest  and  in  real  effectiveness  if  we 
frankly  faced  these  preferences  of  the  people  of 
God  and  made  such  selections  as  would  best  min- 
ister to  spiritual  life. 

A  young  theological  student  came  home  from 
seminary  at  vacation  time  and  troubled  his  con- 
servative father  by  expressing  some  doubts  as  to 
the  historical  character  of  the  book  of  Jonah.  The 
father  combatted  all  suggestions  of  allegory  or 
parable  in  the  customary  way,  even  staking  the 
wisdom  and  authority  of  Christ  upon  the  literal 
historicity  of  the  ancient  account.  A  year  later  rhe 
son  returned  again  from  seminary  and  the  father 
expressed  the  hope  that  his  early  views  had  been 
restored  by  additional  study.  Further  argument  fol- 
lowed until  finally  the  boy  exclaimed:  "Well,  fath- 
er, what  difference  does  it  make;  there  is  not  any 
book  of  Jonah  in  your  Bible  any  way."  The  father 
was  startled  at  the  impious  suggestion  and  hast- 
ened to  bring  out  his  well  worn  volume  to  disprove 
the  claim.  He  hunted  and  hunted  among  the  mi- 
nor prophets,  never  quite  sure  as  to  the  order  in 
which  they  come,  until  finally  he  was  forced  to  ad- 
mit that  he  had  been  using  a  Bible  in  which  Jonah 
had  no  place.  That  little  book  only  covers  a  single 
leaf,  and  the  son  had  cut  the  leaf  out  when  he  was 
at  home  the  year  before.  The  father  had  used  his 
beloved  copy  of  the  scriptures  for  twelve  months 
with  no  sense  of  loss  and  without  a  thought  of  the 
absence  of  the  much  discussed  book  from  his  canon 
of  holy  writ. 


io  The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 

Many  of  the  famous  battle  grounds  in  scripture 
are  upon  soil  which  religious  people  rarely  culti- 
vate and  from  which  the  harvests  are  at  best  mea- 
ger. The  report  from  the  book  of  Jasher  as  \o 
the  sun  standing  still,  the  account  of  Samson's  mer- 
ry pranks  with  three  hundred  foxes  and  other  sim- 
ilar passages,  occur  to  you.  These  are  not  the 
words  of  which  it  could  be  said  "they  are  spirit  and 
they  are  life."  They  share  to  a  very  slight  extent 
in  the  great  work  of  making  men  wise  unto  sal  Ca- 
tion, or  in  thoroughly  furnishing  them  unto  every 
good  work.  We  are  grateful  for  the  book  of  Jo- 
nah— not  that  we  turn  to  it  for  evidence  that  the 
Omnipotent  God  could  make  a  fish  large  enough 
to  swallow  a  man,  and  could  keep  the  man  alive 
inside  the  fish  for  three  days.  Its  main  value  rests 
upon  two  abiding  lessons.  It  teaches  us  that  whin 
a  man  runs  away  from  his  duty  he  gets  into  trou- 
ble and  when  he  repents  he  gets  out  again.  And  it 
declares  that  the  breadth  of  God's  moral  interest 
in  mankind  is  such  as  to  include  even  the  heathen 
city  of  Nineveh,  raising  up  a  chosen  prophet  to 
preach  to  it  the  gospel  of  righteousness  and  peace. 
And  these  sure  values  are  equally  ours  whether  we 
accept  the  story  of  the  great  fish  as  history  or  as 
parable. 

Dean  Hodges  of  Cambridge  is  one  of  the  saga- 
cious men  of  his  denomination,  and  he  has  stated 
that  more  people  come  into  the  Episcopal  Church 
because  of  the  Prayer  Book  than  for  any  other  rea- 
son. It  is  a  little  book  that  can  be  held  in  the  .'land 
open.  It  contains  the  Psalms,  a  selection  from  the 
gospels  and  one  from  the  epistles  for  every  Sunday 
in  the  year.  It  is  a  manual  of  devotion  containing 
some  of  the  choicest  words,  thoughts  and  helps  in 


The  Laymaris  Use  of  the  Bible  n 

-all  the  Bible.  It  has  collections  and  prayers  for 
every  sort  of  situation,  in  time  of  sorrow,  in  time  of 
prosperity,  in  time  of  storm,  in  time  of  famine,  at 
home  or  at  sea — its  litany  enfolds  our  whole  range 
of  spiritual  needs  and  interests.  The  imperfect 
moralities,  the  dull  pedigrees,  the  dry  difficult  sec 
tions  that  puzzle  more  than  they  comfort  or  in- 
spire, are  not  here — it  is  a  selected  little  book  and 
the  fact  that  it  can  be  held  in  the  hand  open  and 
is  so  widely  held  there,  has  made  it  an  instrument 
of  power  in  the  Episcopal  Church. 

The  time  is  coming — perhaps  it  is  here  already  - 
when  other  Protestant  bodies  must  have  their  little 
books.  A  smaller  and  more  usable  volume  than 
our  ordinary  Bible,  which  would  still  remain  avail- 
able for  reference,  for  scholars,  for  all  who  want  a 
complete  account  of  the  religious  movement  which 
culminated  in  the  coming  of  Christ  is  needed.  The 
smaller  book  could  contain  all  the  best  of  the  Old 
Testament,  all  of  the  four  gospels  and  the  book  of 
Acts,  the  simpler  and  more  serviceable  portions  cf 
the  Epistles,  and  such  other  passages  as  might  lie 
within  the  range  of  a  layman's  interest  and  desire. 
All  this  together  with  forms  and  suggestions  for 
grace  at  meat,  for  family  prayer  and  for  private, 
personal  devotion,  not  to  supplant  but  to  assist  and 
enrich  voluntary  prayer  would  meet  a  confessed 
reed  in  thousands  of  Christian  families.  We  have 
scriptural  authority  for  "rightly  dividing  the  word 
of  truth"  and  such  a  little  book  easily  held  m  the 
hand  and  mind  would  aid  men  in  the  helpful  use  of 
the  Bible. 

The  layman's  use  of  the  Bible  must  also  of  ne- 
cessity be  honest.  A  little  book  in  the  hand  ;'open" 


12  The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 

— wide  open!  There  must  be  no  peeping  nor 
squinting,  no  taking  leave  of  our  common  sense  as 
we  open  the  little  book.  There  can  be  no  hiding 
our  heads  in  the  sand,  ostrich  fashion  in  vain  pre- 
tense that  no  difficulties  or  inconsistencies  confront 
us  when  we  take  up  the  august  subject  of  religion 
as  seen  from  so  many  points  of  view,  by  men  wide- 
ly removed  in  time,  temperament  and  task.  The 
intelligent  layman  will  not  endure  any  sort  of  men- 
tal shuffling,  His  Bible  forbids  his  "speaking 
wickedly  for  God,"  his  acting  insincerely  for  the 
good  of  the  cause. 

The  apologies,  defenses  and  explanations  of  cer- 
tain defective  moralities  in  the  Old  Testament, 
which  belong  naturally  in  the  raw  period  of  any 
people's  history,  have  often  been  such  as  to  repel 
honest,  manly  study.  ''Interpret  the  Bible  like  any 
other  book,"  Jowett  said  at  Oxford.  It  frightened 
some  people  at  the  time  but  it  has  come  to  be  the 
rule  of  all  respectable  interpretation.  The  one  in- 
quiry is,  "What  are  the  facts?  What  do  these  words 
mean?"  If  God  has  allowed  these  things  to  happen 
in  his  world,  and  has  allowed  his  inspired  servants 
to  write  accounts  of  them,  we  need  not  be  afraid  of 
overthrowing  the  cause  of  righteousness  by  hon- 
estly trying  to  understand  them  as  they  are. 

The  phrase  "Higher  Criticism"  is  an  unfortunate 
one.  It  is  like  the  phrase  used  by  the  New  York 
clergyman  during  the  Presidential  campaign  of 
1884.  He  said  the  Democratic  party  was  largely 
made  up  of  "Rum,  Romanism  and  Rebellion/'  It 
was  an  unfair,  unjust  statement  but  it  hinted  at 
certain  facts  in  a  partial,  prejudiced  way  and  that 
made  it  sting.  It  was  taken  up  by  the  opposition, 


7 he  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible  13 

used  for  more  than  it  was  worth  and  undoubtedly 
aided  in  the  defeat  of  James  G.  Elaine. 

In  a  similar  way  the  phrase  "Higher  Criticism" 
seems  to  represent  men  as  picking  at  the  Bible  in 
unfriendly  fashion,  as  trying  to  find  knot  holes  in 
it,  as  pulling  it  to  pieces  and  in  general  conspiracy 
against  its  usefulness.  The  very  name  "criticism" 
means  nothing  but  faultfinding  to  some  people. 
They  forget  that  it  means  also  accurate,  discrimi- 
nating and  intelligent  appreciation. 

The  effort  of  all  real  Bible  students,  however  you 
name  them,  is  to  put  the  Bible  into  our  hands  wide 
open.  We  have  this  treasure,  Paul  says,  in  earthen 
vessels.  There  lies  embedded  here  a  genuine  rev- 
elation from  God,  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  sal- 
vation, able  to  give  us  reproof,  correction,  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness,  able  to  furnish  us  thoroughly 
unto  all  good  work.  That  is  the  heavenly  treasu-e. 
But  it  lies  embedded  in  a  real  historical  process. 
Being  historical,  Lot,  Samson,  Jezebel  and  Judas 
Iscariot  would  naturally  come  in.  The  imperfect 
moralities,  the  immature  understanding  as  to  what 
religious  beliefs  might  safely  be  prefaced  by  a 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  the  necessity  for  a  gradual 
and  progressive  uncovering  of  the  mind  of  God  to 
the  maturing  gaze  of  pure  and  yet  purer  hearted 
men — all  this  was  inevitable  in  a  historical  process 
and  this  is  the  "earthen  vessel"  that  contains  the 
treasure.  The  scholars  are  simply  seeking  to  dis- 
cover and  to  disentangle  what  is  local,  temporary 
and  incidental  from  what  is  universal,  abiding  and 
essential.  When  we  look  at  it  frankly  with  open 
and  unprejudiced  eyes,  that  is  about  all  there  is  of 
that  bug-a-boo  which  is  supposed  to  lurk  within 
the  "Higher  Criticism."  It  is  in  the  interests  ol 


The  Lay  'man  *s  Use  of  the  Bible 


faith  and  of  an  effort  to  secure  a  larger  usefulness 
for  the  Bible  as  a  practical  influence  on  the  human 
heart  that  reverent  thoughtful  men  are  endeavoring 
to  place  our  confidence  in  it  upon  foundations  that 
will  stand  sure. 

When  we  have  a  fowl  for  dinner,  the  cook  does 
not  bring  it  on  (the  table,  feet,  head,  feathers,  in- 
ternal economy  and  all.  In  any  complete  account 
of  the  vital  processes  that  went  into  the  making  of 
a  fowl,  these  would  all  have  to  be  considered.  ^You 
cannot  get  light  meat  and  dark  meat  in  any  other 
way.  We  do  not  want  them  all  on  the  table  how- 
ever, and  we  are  better  fed  where  discrimination 
has  been  used.  When  the  cook  is  preparing  the 
fowl  she  becomes  a  higher  critic,  separating  cer- 
tain necessary  and  inevitable  elements  in  the  pro- 
duction of  such  food,  from  what  can  be  actually 
eaten  and  assimilated. 

In  serving  scriptural  food  to  our  families,  some- 
thing of  the  same  course  may  well  be  taken.  There 
are  events,  experiences  and  utterances  that  were 
simply  inevitable  in  the  slow  preparation  of  a  cho- 
sen people  to  be  the  way  of  the  Lord  for  the  fuller 
revelation  of  himself.  The  "fulness,  of  time"  and 
of  opportunity  appropriate  for  the  sending  of  His 
Son  could  not  have  come  but  for  a  preparatory 
work,  the  accounts  of  which  are  not  always  help- 
ful to  all  classes  of  mind  at  all  periods  of  their  de- 
velopment. We  are  therefore  grateful  to  those 
who  with  discrimination  bring  us  our  real  meat  in 
due  season,  the  wholesome  food  of  comfort,  up- 
lift, inspiration  and  instruction  in  all  lines  of  right- 
eousness. 

We  have  the  highest  authority  for  using  scrip- 
ture in  this  intelligent,  honest  way.  Jesus  once 


The  Lay  man*  s  Use  of  the  Bible  15 


game  with  his  disciples  to  a  Samaritan  village, 
which,  owing  to  religious  prejudice,  refused  the  a 
entertainment  for  the  night.  James  and  John  said, 
"Shall  we  call  down  fire  from  heaven  and  burn 
them  up?"  They  had  scripture  for  it.  They  cited 
the  precedent.  "Shall  we  call  down  fire  as  Elijah 
did."  Then  Jesus  rebuked  them,  "Ye  know  not 
what  spirit  ye  are  of.  The  Son  of  Man  is  not  come 
to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save  them."  The  Old 
Testament  precedents  and  standards  must  be 
brought  into  harmony  with  the  mind  and  purpose 
of  Christ  or  they  must  stand  aside.  He  quoted  Old 
Testament  passages  prefaced  by  a  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord"  and  told  them  frankly,  "Moses  gave  you  this 
because  of  the  coarseness  of  your  hearts,  but  I 
say  unto  you,"  something  higher  and  more  in  line 
with  your  degree  of  moral  attainment. 

The  little  book  then  must  be  held  wide  open  and 
read  honestly.  Parents  ask  how  far  they  ought  to 
go  in  giving  their  children  the  results  and  the 
methods  of  modern  Bible  study.  That  depends 
upon  the  degree  of  the  parent's  tact  and  real 
knowledge  of  the  Bible,  and  also  upon  the  age  and 
temperament  of  the  child.  We  can  at  least  avoid 
teaching  them  any  falsehoods  that  they  will  have 
to  painfully  and  perilously  unlearn  later.  They 
stand  in  the  presence  of  many  mysteries,  physical 
and  otherwise,  which  we  are  not  ready  to  declare 
but  we  need  not  fill  their  minds  with  silly  misrepre- 
sentations. Honesty  as  far  as  we  go,  is  the  only 
safe  rule. 

We  need  not  labor  under  the  assumption  that  the 
Bible  tells  us  or  will  tell  them,  all  about  this  world 
and  the  world  to  come,  all  about  what  God  did  m 
the  beginning  and  how  he  will  close  up  the  affairs 


1 6  The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 

of  the  race  at  the  end.  We  need  not  fear  to  say, 
"There  are  many  things  which  we  do  not  know. 
There  are  other  things  which  we  know  in  part. 
There  are  sure  fields  where  we  can  rest  our 
whole  weight  and  rejoice  in  unreserved  trust, 
knowing  whom  we  have  believed — even  though 
touching  certain  questions  there  are  unexplored 
remainders  as  to  'what'  we  believe.  This  course 
may  reduce  the  volume  of  what  we  have  to  teach 
but  it  will  add  immensely  to  its  reality  and  power. 
And  for  this  kind  of  Scriptural  instruction,  a  se- 
lected Bible  would  be  better  than  the  entire  sixty- 
six  books.  We  should  be  able  to  use  the  scriptures 
more  frankly  and  more  honestly  if  we  had  such 
a  little  book  in  the  hand  open. 

And  finally  the  layman's  use  of  the  Bible  ought 
to  be  habitual.  This  servant  of  God  stood  there 
with  the  book  in  his  hand  open.  Men  are  some- 
times photographed  in  a  way  that  indicates  their 
life  work — General  Grant  in  uniform  with  a  sword  at 
his  side,  John  Burroughs  with  a  flower  in  his  hand 
Tesla  with  electrical  apparatus  as  a  background. 
On  the  wall  of  my  study  hangs  a  picture  of  our 
own  Mr.  Yelland  with  palette  and  brush,  a  can- 
vas before  him.  The  characteristic  attitude  of  this 
servant  of  God  was  that  of  a  man  with  a  little  book 
in  his  hand  open. 

A  book  is  a  connecting  link  between  the  past 
and  present.  Through  the  book  I  know  Shake- 
speare, Milton,  Dante  and  Homer,  whom  I  never 
saw.  In  religion,  no  man  liveth  unto  himself 
nor  can  thus  live  a  man's  full  life.  The  hopes  and 
fears,  needs  and  aspirations,  sorrows  and  tempra- 
tions,  that  grip  him  have  gripped  other  men.  He. 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible  17 

does  not  come  to  the  task  of  living  the  best  and 
largest  life  possible,  as  to  a  path  untrod.  He  will 
understand  more  than  the  ancients  if  he  gratefully 
stands  on  their  shoulders.  He  will  be  wiser  than 
teachers  of  an  hour  if  the  great  testimonies  of  the 
ages  past  are  his  meditation.  One  generation 
praises  the  works  of  God  to  another  and  declares 
his  mighty  acts  in  all  its  profounder  experiences. 
It  is  just  here  the  Bible  meets  the  individual  man. 
With  the  little  book  in  his  hand  open,  he  is  led  into 
a  large  place  and  finds  himself  organized  with  a 
wide  communion  of  saints. 

The  Christian  who  has  this  convenient,  accessi- 
ble and  measurably  understood  little  book  as  the 
man  of  his  counsel  is  in  vital  touch  with  the  laws 
of  Moses,  the  songs  of  David,  the  reasonings  of 
Job,  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  the  preaching  of 
Paul,  the  visions  of  John,  and  best  of  all  with  the 
matchless  words  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man 
spake.  Every  God-breathed  writing  is  profitable 
for  all  forms  of  moral  effort,  and  as  he  roams  these 
wide  fields,  he  gathers  the  finest  of  the  wheat,  here 
thirty,  there  sixty,  now  and  then  a  hundred  fold 
of  spiritual  harvest.  The  quality,  the  variety  and 
the  abundance  of  his  food  are  such  that  he  is 
built  up  into  what  Paul  called  "the  full  grown  man 
after  the  stature  of  Christ." 

However  it  came  about  we  have  never  succeeded 
in  rearing  up  Christian  men  and  women  who  were 
largely,  nobly  and  steadily  useful,  except  as  they 
were  fed  and  well  fed  on  scripture.  The  paper,  the 
magazine,  the  religious  poem  and  the  sermon  may 
all  come  in  but  there  is  an  unapproached  primacy 
belonging  to  the  scriptures  themselves.  We  know 
that  they  are  able  to  make  men  wise  unto  salva- 


i8          ,     The  Layman1  s  Use  of  the  Bible 

tion  because  they  have  been  doing  it.  If  we  are 
to  have  men  of  large  faith,  effectual  in  prayer, 
bearing  with  them  the  sense  and  atmosphere  of 
God's  holy  presence,  able  to  stand  firm  in  the 
hour  of  trial  or  temptation,  broadly  and  evenly  use- 
ful in  all  forms  of  good  work,  we  must  have  men 
whose  characteristic  attitude  is  that  of  the  man  with 
the  little  book  in  his  hand  open. 

The  Bible  is  not  a  book  for  preachers  alone  nor 
for  women  and  children  alone.  You  men  with  your 
burdens  and  anxieties,  living  as  many  of  you  do  on 
the  frontier  where  right  and  wrong  meet  six  days 
in  the  week  and  fight  to  the  death,  tempted  as  you 
are  to  sing  your  life  song  in  a  lower  key  than  you 
ought — this  little  book  is  for  you.  You  need  hab- 
itual conference  with  a  book  that  is  not  afraid  of 
you,  that  will  call  upon  you  to  stand  up  before  the 
highest  and  most  searching  ideals,  that  will  invite 
you  to  try  conclusions  with  the  purposes  of  God 
concerning  you,  that  will  bring  you  to  know  Htm 
as  the  Friend  and  Helper  of  your  life.  You  -ieed 
this  little  book  in  your  hand  open  for  a  quarter  cf 
an  hour  every  day  in  the  week. 

I  know  how  busy  you  are.  But  no  man  has  any 
right  to  be  so  busy  making  a  living  and  ever  a  bet- 
ter and  better  living,  as  not  to  have  time  to  live  his 
life  on  the  highest  plane  possible  to  him.  I  know 
the  difficulties  that  confront  you  when  you 
open  the  pages  of  scripture.  The  knowledge  and 
appreciation  of  its  value  and  the  ability  to  take 
what  it  has  to  offer,  come  by  use  and  by  nothing 
less. 

Dean  Farrar  once  gave  an  encouraging  word  to 
those  who  find  it  hard  work  to  read  the  Bible.  He 
spoke  of  the  different  way  in  which  two  men  had 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible  19 

read  it  upon  occasion.  Archbishop  Usher  sitting  in 
his  invalid  chair  asked  to  be  wheeled  nearei  the 
window.  The  evening  sun  shone  in  upon  him  and 
in  its  soft,  warm  light  he  read  the  pages  of  his  Bible 
bringing  all  the  aid  of  his  ripe  scholarship  to  illum- 
ine its  words. 

The  other  man,  a  naturalist,  was  sitting  with  his 
family  out  under  the  trees  on  a  summer  evening 
watching  the  glow  worms.  The  hour  for  evening 
prayer  came.  He  drew  from  his  'pocket  a  small 
Bible,  caught  two  of  the  glow  worms,  and  by  plac- 
ing them  at  either  end  of  the  verses,  was  able  to 
read  by  the  soft  green  light  they  shed  upon  the 
page.  The  family  sat  in  the  dark  and  having  ears  to 
hear,  they  heard  this  significant  passage,  "flow 
manifold  are  thy  works,  oh  God.  In  wisdom  hast 
thou  made  them  all.  The  earth  is  full  of  thy  riches." 
One  verse  stood  out  while  the  rest  of  the  psalm  was 
dark,  but  by  moving  from  verse  to  verse  the  whole 
lesson  was  revealed  and  fell  graciously  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  silent  worshippers. 

You  may  not  be  able  as  a  layman  to  read  your 
Bible  with  the  large  ripe  scholarship  of  an  Arch- 
bishop. Read  it  with  the  glow-worm  light  of  your 
own  knowledge  of  its  meaning.  As  you  move  from 
verse  to  verse,  from  chapter  to  chapter,  and  from 
book  to  book,  more  and  more  light  will  fall.  The 
faint  gleams  that  guided  your  first  study  will  shine 
ever  brighter,  furnishing  a  lamp  unto  your  feet  and 
a  light  unto  your  path,  guiding  you  in  the  way  of 
unending  peace. 

The  Bible  is  a  human  book;  it  is  a  divine  book 
It  finds  us  where  we  are,  speaking  the  language 
wherein  we  were  born,  touching  us  with  a  hand  like 
our  own  hand,  and  in  the  fullness  of  the  human 


The  Layman's  Use  of  the  Bible 


experiences  it  holds,  looking  upon  us  beneficently 
with  a  face  like  our  own  face.  It  leads  us  on  and  up 
until  we  see  the  face  of  the  Father.  When  we  come 
to  the  end  of  all  earthly  effort  and  are  called  to  our 
account,  we  shall  look  back  with  profound  satisfac- 
tion and  set  high  value  upon  those  moments  we 
spent  with  this  little  book  in  our  hands  open,  seek- 
ing to  know  Him  on  whom  we  depend,  to  whom 
we  are  responsible  and  with  whom  we  are  to  find 
our  life  eternal. 


The  Place  for  Each  Life 


By 
REV.  CHAS,  R.  BROWN 


1901 

BAKER   PRINTING   CO. 
OAKLAND,   CAL. 


To 

MY   GOOD   FRIENDS 
The  Members  of  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society 

at  whose  request  this  sermon 
is  printed 

I  offer  it 

In  appreciation  of  their  constant  loyalty 
and  their  large  usefulness 

In  the  life  of  our  Church* 


"And  thou  shall  be  missed  because  thy 

seat  will  be  empty" 

i  Sam.  20-18. 


)U  walk  out  to  dinner  in  the  home  of  a 
friend,  and  it  gives  you  a  pleasant,  com- 
fortable feeling  to  find  your  name  at  a 
certain  place  on  the  table.  The  name 
may  be  included  in  some  graceful  design, 
holly  if  it  is  Christmas  time,  or  lilies  of 
the  valley  at  the  Easter  season.  Or,  still 
better,  the  dinner  card  may  contain  a  ref- 
erence to  the  special  occasion  of  the  dinner  or 
may  suggest  some  interesting  circumstance  in 
connection  with  your  own  life.  All  this  gives 
pleasure  because  it  strengthens  your  feeling 
that  you  were  expected,  provided  for  and 
thought  of  long  before  you  put  in  an  appearance. 
If  you  had  not  come  something  would  have 
been  lacking — you  would  have  been  missed, 
for  your  seat  and  place  in  the  anticipations  of 
the  host  would  have  been  empty. 

This  simple  fact  illustrates  the  thought  of  the 
text.  The  words  passed  between  David  and 
Jonathan,  the  classic  friends  of  the  Bible.  Their 
souls  were  "knit  together/'  the  writer  says — 
there  was  an  interlacing,  interlocking  of 
thought,  interest,  congeniality  and  affection 
that  made  them  as  one.  Apparently  they  had 
stated  times  for  meeting  each  other  in  the  joy- 
ous exchange  of  hospitality.  "Tomorrow  is 
the  new  moon,"  Jonathan  said,  "and  thou  shalt 


THE  PlyACE  FOR  EACH  UFE 


be  missed  because  thy  seat  will  be  empty."  The 
relations  between  Saul,  who  was  Jonathan's 
father,  and  David  had  become  strained  until 
the  young  shepherd  was  no  longer  welcome. 
To  the  soul  of  Jonathan  the  absence  of  this 
loved  comrade  entailed  a  loss  that  all  the  other 
guests  who  might  throng  the  royal  table  could 
not  supply — "thou  shalt  net  be  missed  for  thy 
seat  will  be  empty." 

I  wish  to  use  the  words  this  morning  as  sug- 
gesting the  forethought  and  anticipation  cher- 
ished by  the  Father  touching  each  man's  pres- 
ence at  the  great  banquet  of  life.  Every  man's 
name  is  there ;  a  seat  is  there  which  he  and  he 
only  is  meant  to  fill.  He  is  expected  to  be  on 
hand  and  eat  his  share  of  all  the  roval  nourish- 
ment that  feeds  the  highest  forms  of  life.  He 
is  expected  to  contribute  his  share  of  social 
grace  and  wholesome  converse  to  the  occasion. 
It  is  further  expected  of  him  that  as  a  result  of 
this  goodly  fare  and  enriching  companionship, 
he  will  rise  up  and  be  more  fully  and  strongly 
a  man  of  service  to  the  world  about  him.  In 
society  at  large  the  anticipation  is  that  he  will 
fill  his  place  in  bringing  in  the  kingdom  of 
righteousness,  peace  and  joy.  It  is  intended 
that  each  life  should  have  some  personal  and 
significant  place  in  society.  For  any  man  to 
thoughtlessly,  carelessly  or  wickedly  stay  away 
is  a  source  of  disappointment  to  the  One  who 
spreads  the  feast,  a  wrong  to  those  who  are 


THE  PLACE  FOR  EACH  LIFE 


bidden  with  him  and  an  unspeakable  loss  to  the 
man  himself. 

Hora.ce  Bushnell  used  to  say,  "Every  man's 
life  is  a  plan  of  God,"  and  he  rang  the  changes 
on  it  until  it  became  a  proverb.  He  had  the 
facts  with  him  in  making  the  claim.  A  wise 
architect  calls  for  no  material  that  will  not  ac- 
complish some  purpose  in  his  building.  Every 
brick,  lath  or  shingle  must  add  strength,  utility 
or  beauty  else  it  would  not  be  there.  Men  and 
women  are  the  raw  material  called  into  being 
by  the  great  inclusive  plan  of  Him  who  patient- 
ly and  surely  builds  the  temple  of  a  redeemed 
humanity.  There  are  no  superfluous  lives.  The 
perfect  plan  needs  and  invites  each  one  to  par- 
ticipate in  its  unfolding.  For  any  man  to  with- 
hold his  life  from  this  divine  call  is  to  fail  him- 
self and  to  bring  a  note  of  incompleteness  into 
the  perfect  world  that  ought  to  be. 

Men  aj*e  often  urged  to  throw  the  weight  of 
personal  example  and  daily  influence  on  the 
side  of  Christ.  They  are  asked  to  make  them- 
selves as  clearly  and  decisively  as  they  know 
how  the  allies  of  these  Christian  ideals  and 
forces.  An  occasional  man  may  try  to  beg  off 
on  the  claim  that  "he  has  no  influence."  It  is 
an  insincere  claim,  for  no  man,  woman  or  child 
lives  without  exerting  influence  as  inevitably  as 
he  casts  a  shadow  in  the  sunshine.  And  every 
one  of  these  fractions  of  the  total  influence  ex- 
erted by  humanity  upon  the  progress  of  history 


8  THE  PLACE   FOR  EACH   LIFE 

is  demanded  for  the  normal  growth  of  the  per- 
fect civilization,  for  the  establishment  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  "The  river  of  God"  which 
"is  full  of  water"  ajid  "the  streams  of  Christian 
influence  which  are  to  make  glad  the  city  of 
God,"  are  simply  the  result  of  these  brooks,  riv- 
ulets and  individual  drops  of  right  life,  all  cast- 
ing themselves  into  the  impelling  purpose  of 
God. 

We  are  told  that  the  world  of  music  became 
so  real  to  Beethoven  that  he  could  see  sounds 
moving  in  columns,  keeping  step  and  executing 
figures  that  were  like  mighty  symphonies.  His 
soul  was  thus  filled  with  the  message  he  desired 
to  give  the  world.  He  had  something  to  say 
which  he  proposed  to  embody  in  his  Ninth  or 
his  Fifth  Symphony.  But  he  could  not  do  it  on 
paper — no  man  can  put  himself  on  paper.  The 
little  black  spots  on  the  score  could  not  contain 
the  thought  of  the  master.  He  could  not  speak 
his  messa,ge  standing  alone  with  the  best  in- 
strument man  might  devise — violin,  piano  or 
splendid  organ.  He  must  have  an  orchestra  of 
sixty,  eighty  or  a  hundred  men  with  all  the  var- 
ieties of  instruments,  reeds,  strings,  brass  and 
drums.  Every  man  of  them  was  needed  to  en- 
able Beethoven  to  speak  to  us  as  he  would. 
Not  even  the  man  in  the  rear  with  the  kettle 
drums,  who  often  takes  himself  so  seriously  as 
to  provoke  a  smile,  could  be  spared.  He  would 
be  missed  if  his  seat  were  empty.  Then  as  all 


THE;  PI,ACE  FOR  EACH  LIFE 


the  members  of  the  orchestra  act  together,  the 
noble  symphony,  rising,  swelling  and  sweeping 
the  great  audience  into  high  moods  of  aspira- 
tion and  of  sacred  joy,  every  individual  per- 
former knows  that  he  is  filling  a  place  in  the 
plan  of  the  composer  and  genuinely  contribut- 
ing to  the  total  effect. 

If  this  is  palpably  true  of  a  human  composer 
in  the  delivery  of  his  message  to  the  world, 
what  shall  we  say  of  the  music  God  would 
make?  There  is  no  human  life  that  can  be 
spared  from  the  harmony  of  thought,  desire 
and  action  He  would  secure  in  human  society. 
All  the  lives  of  men  and  women,  youths  and 
maidens,  boys  and  girls  must  respond  with 
their  personal  powers  of  usefulness  if  the  mighty 
symphony  of  a  Christian  civilization  is  to  be  re- 
alized, unmarred  and  all  complete  The  weak- 
est life  would  be  missed  if  its  seat  were  empty. 

The  study  of  our  modern  life  adds  constantly 
to  our  sense  of  the  significance  of  the  individ- 
ual. There  is  a  feeling  abroad  that  some  times 
the  individual  is  overborne  by  the  aggregation 
of  lives  in  the  corporation  or  the  trust,  in  the 
great  university  or  in  some  popular  movement. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  never  counted  for  so 
much.  The  more  highly  organized  life  becomes 
the  more  significance  each  part  has  for  the 
whole.  Throw  a  stone  into  the  pond  and  it  tells 
the  whole  pond  that  it  is  there  as  the  circling 
waves  reach  all  shores.  Throw  the  stone  into  a 


10  THE  PLACE  FOR  EACH 


field  of  equal  size  and  it  does  not  affect  the 
borders  of  the  field  at  all.  The  particles  of  the 
pond  lie  close;  they  are  responsive  and  mobile. 
So  it  is  with  the  social  atoms  in  our  modern 
life.  We  are  so  intimately  related  and  organiz- 
ed that  the  very  face,  tone,  bearing  and  per- 
sonal atmosphere  of  every  individual  life  is 
counting  all  the  while.  It  may  count  for  or  it 
may  count  against  the  kingdom  of  God,  but 
count  it  must. 

The  division  of  labor  has  proceeded  so  far 
that  every  one  may  stand  up  and  say  without  a 
shadow  of  conceit,  "There  is  some  part  of  the 
perfect  world  that  I  must  build  or  it  will  go  un- 
built." When  the  Jews  returned  from  Babylon 
to  Jerusalem  they  rebuilt  the  city  wall  by  hav- 
ing each  man  build  over  against  his  own  house. 
They  were  not  all  using  the  same  shaped  stones 
nor  mortar  of  equal  consistency,  but  each  one 
in  his  own  place  was  laying  stone  upon  stone 
for  his  protection  and  for  the  safety  of  his 
city  as  well.  The  houses  were  small,  and  the 
portion  of  wall  built  by  the  individual  incon- 
siderable, but  a  failure  anywhere  on  the  part  of 
the  modest  householder  would  have  left  a  loop- 
hole for  the  entrance  of  the  enemy.  Fidelity 
in  meeting  responsibility  to  the  last  maji  was 
the  price  of  safety  for  all. 

The  Christian  wellbeing  of  any  community 
can  come  by  nothing  less.  Every  man  owes  to 
the  world  to  build  in  the  sacred  enclosures  of 


THE  PLACE  FOR    EACH   LIFE  II 

his  own  heart  reverence,  trust  and  obedience 
towards  God,  good  will  and  the  habit  of  service 
in  his  attitude  toward  fiis  fellows ;  to  build  in  his 
own  home  a  constant,  inspiring  example  of 
Christian  living,  and  to  there  maintain  the  of- 
fices and  atmosphere  of  Christ's  holy  religion ; 
to  build  into  his  own  street,  a  family  that  on 
Sunday  casts  its  united  vote  for  Christian  insti- 
tutions by  going  to  church,  and  on  the  other 
six  days  casts  six  similar  votes  by  seeking  to 
liA^e  in  the  spirit  of  that  significant  act ;  to  build 
into  his  pew  more  prayerful,  responsible,  con- 
sistent Christian  fact,  which  is  the  loudest  amen 
that  can  be  uttered  to  the  preaching  of  Christ's 
Gospel ;  to  build  into  the  whole  round  of  his 
relationships  a  life  that  stands  for  the  progres- 
sive realization  of  the  spirit  and  method  of  the 
Master.  There  is  nothing  hazy  or  Utopian 
about  this  personal  obligation  ,  it  lies  within  the 
power  of  every  individual  to  make  a  sincere  ef- 
fort to  do  just  that :  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
will  come  as  you  and  I  and  that  other  mam  take 
this  line  and  hold  it. 

Those  plain  words  which  Christ  spoke  to 
Mary  have  become  widely  popular  and  de- 
servedly so — "She  hath  done  what  she  could." 
They  are  sometimes  uttered  in  a  condescending 
tone, — she  hath  done  what  she  could,  not  much 
but  the  best  she  was  capable  of  doing.  Such 
an  inflection  is  wrong — she  hath  done  what  she 
could — possibly  not  what  Peter  could  have 


12  THE  PLACE   FOR   EACH   LIFE 

done,  for  he  preached  a  sermon  that  converted 
three  thousand  men;  not  what  Paul  could,  for 
he  wrote  a  third  of  the  New  Testament  with 
his  own  hand ;  not  what  Luke  could,  for  he 
wrote  the  best  single  book  in  the  Bible.  Mary 
never  preached  a  sermon  nor  wrote  a  line  that 
has  endured. 

But  there  was  something  that  she  could  do 
that  we  cannot  imagine  Peter,  Paul  or  Luke 
doing.  In  the  uncalculating  devotion  of  her 
heart  she  showed  a  love  for  the  Master  a,nd  did 
him  honor  in  a  way  that  has  become  the  in- 
spiration to  generosity  the  wide  world  over. 
"Wherever  the  gospel  is  preached  this  act  of 
Mary's  will  be  spoken  of  as  a,  memorial 
of  her,"  was  Christ's  sure  word  of  pre- 
diction as  to  how  it  would  hold  the  at- 
tention and  interest  of  mankind.  The 
spirit  that  prompted  the  act  has  been  a  potent 
factor  in  eliciting  noble  service  throughout 
Christendom.  The  mother  giving  herself  to 
her  children  without  a  thought  of  what  it  is 
costing  her;  the  patriot  giving  himself  to  the 
service  of  his  country  in  the  field  or  in  civil  ser- 
vice where  he  stakes  his  all  upon  unflinching 
adherence  to  principle ;  the  man  or  woman 
pouring  out  the  best  that  purse  and  head  a,nd 
heart  hold  in  philanthropic  effort!  How  many 
in  this  wide  world  have  been  refreshed,  in- 
spired and  invigorated  by  this  story  of  un- 
questioning devotion  in  this  early  discipliapf  of 


THE   PLACE   FOR   EACH   LIFE 


Christ?  She  hath  done  what  she  could  and  no 
one  but  the  Master  himself  knows  how  much 
would  have  been  missed  if  she  had  allowed  her 
place  of  usefulness  to  be  empty. 

Nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  this  is 
expected  from  every  life  to  which  the  all  in- 
clusive summons  of  the  Spirit  comes  calling  to 
Christian  service.  "She  could," — that  indicates 
responsibility  and  fixes  the  measure  of  it.  "She 
did"  what  she  could, — that  gives  us  the  record 
of  obligation  met.  It  is  not  for  me,  or  for  any 
one  to  say  just  what  you  individually  can  do. 
Eaich  life  discovers  its  capacity  for  Christian 
usefulness  as  it  faces  its  opportunities  with  de- 
termination. The  very  fact  that  your  body  here 
occupies  space  that  for  the  time  is  occupied  by 
nothing  else ;  that  your  mind  thinks  of  life  in 
a  way  that  is  peculiarly  its  own ;  that  your  heart 
cherishes  its  own  loves  and  hates,  hopes  and 
fears,  aspirations  and  depressions ;  that  your  ac- 
tivities and  influence  fill  a  sphere  held  by  no 
other  life  in 'the  world,  points  to  personal  oppor- 
tunity and  responsibility.  You  can,  therefore, 
you  must,  fill  that  space  with  the  best  that  is 
possible  to  you. 

The  young  man  is  here  this  morning  con- 
scious tha.t  the  possibilities  of  low,,  mean  life 
are  all  about  him.  The  allurements  of  vice 
stretch  out  their  hands  and  beckon  him.  His 
safety  lies  in  his  feeling  that  life  is  too  high 
and  fine  to  thus  demean  itself.  There  is  a  bet- 


14  THE  PLACE   FOR   EACH 


ter  sort  of  table  offering  satisfaction  to  all  his 
healthy  instincts  than  tha,t  spread  yonder  in  the 
under  world.  If  he  got  down  on  all  fours  to 
follow  after  the  merely  animal  pleasures,  his 
seat  at  the  true  banquet  of  life  would  be  empty 
and  he  would  be  missed.  He  therefore  resolves 
to  build  into  the  world  one  more  clean,  sound, 
intelligent,  useful  Christian  life.  He  cannot  blot 
out  the  vice  of  the  world.  He  cannot  face  about 
aJl  his  friends  and  associates.  He  cannot  ans- 
wer all  the  cavils  and  criticism  he  may  have  to 
endure.  He  can  build  his  own  life  so  that  it  is 
worthy  of  a  place  in  the  world  that  is  to  be. 
And  if  every  man,  woman  and  child  were  re- 
solved to  fill  Just  one  seat  full  of  Christian  ex- 
cellence, the  kingdom  would  come  and  the 
will  of  the  Father  would  bear  rule  on  earth 
as  it  does  in  heaven. 

There  is  an  unspeakable  joy  and  exhilaration 
in  just  filling  one's  place  in  life  full,  and  in  mak- 
ing it  a  radiating  center  from  which  impulses 
toward  noble  effort  subtly  communicate  them- 
selves to  others.  It  does  not  matter  whether  you 
aje  doing  it  in  some  conspicuous  position  or  in 
a  quiet  corner  of  the  kingdom,  the  very  doing 
of  it  enables  you  to  enter  into  the  joy  of  your 
Lord. 

You  recall  the  story  of  the  Captain's  wife  in 
the  Cuttyhunk  Light  House.  Her  name  was 
Smith.  She  has  never  been  known  to  fame  and 
did  not  realize  that  the  world  would  ever  hear 


THE  PLACE  FOR   EACH   LIFE  15 

of  her  deed.  One  winter  morning  she  had  been 
listening  restlessly  to  the  roar  of  the  storm  and 
as  soon  as  day  broke  she  got  up  unable  to  lie 
still  any  longer.  When  she  looked  out  of  the 
window,  to  her  horror  she  saw  a  schooner  on 
the  reef.  One  mast  had  fallen  over  the  side  and 
three  men  were  lashed  to  the  other  mast.  She 
knew  they  were  still  alive  for  she  could  see  them 
move.  Her  husband  was  fast  asleep.  Should 
she  waken  him?  She  knew  that  if  she  did,  he 
would  probably  go  out  into  that  furious  sea  to 
rescue  those  men,  and  perhaps  be  lost  himself. 
If  she  waited  a  half  hour  perhaps  the  three  men 
would  be  washed  off  or  frozen  to  death,  and 
there  would  be  no  use  in  his  going.  And  it 
was  uncertain  at  best  if  he  could  save  them. 
She  struggled  with  the  question  and  hesitated, 
but  only  for  a  few  moments.  She  went  and 
roused  him.  He  went  out  a«nd  after  a  fierce 
battle  with  waves  and  wind,  brought  off  all 
three  men  alive.  For  the  rest  of  their  days  the 
woman  and  her  husband  took  more  satisfaction 
together  in  the  work  of  that  morning  than  these 
lazy,  cowardly,  moral  shirks  ever  gain  in  all  the 
years  of  their  feeble  existence.  The  readiness 
to  fill  ones  place  in  life  with  fidelity  and  do  that 
which  seems  best  in  the  sight  of  God,  brings  a 
joy  that  passes  understanding. 

Science  has  given  us  a  fascinating  story  in 
showing  us  the  cellular  structure  of  life.  The 
cells  of  a  human  bodv  as  they  engage  in  the  work 


16  THE  PLACE  FOR  EACH  LIFE 

of  digestion,  assimilation,  nutrition,  circulation, 
transporting  foods  here  and  there  like  little 
railroad  lines,  elimination  carrying  forward 
their  work  of  removing  dead,  useless  matter, 
thus  keeping  the  body  sweet,  clean  and  alive — 
what  a  story  they  tell !  If  you  could  uncover 
the  life  of  a  man  and  look  in  upon  these  myriad 
cells  working  as  if  they  had  intelligence  and 
were  finding  joy  in  their  activity,  it  would  be  a 
thrilling  sight.  Suppose  the  cells  that  nourish- 
ed Wellington  in  fighting  the  battle  of  Water- 
loo, or  the  cells  that  fed  the  brain  of  Shakespeare 
when  he  wrote  Macbeth,  or  the  cells  that  sus- 
tained and  quickened  the  life  of  Phillips  Brooks 
as  he  stood  in  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  with 
that  crowd  of  Wall  street  men  before  him,  grip- 
ping them  and  holding  them  up  to  higher  ideals 
— suppose  these  cells  had  been  conscious! 
Picture  the  ecstacy  with  which  they  would  have 
gone  about  their  work  had  they  caught  some 
far  away  vision  of  the  victory,  the  poem,  the 
sermon  they  were  helping  to  produce !  What 
fidelity,  what  consecration  would  have  been  in- 
evitable for  the  tiny  life  of  each  cell  in  the  pres- 
ence of  such  a  commanding  vision ! 

Here  we  have  a  hint  of  what  the  religion  of 
Christ  does  for  each  man.  We  are  all  cells. 
The  kingdom  of  God  is  cellular  and  the  cells 
think,  plan,  will,  love.  In  our  moments  of  high 
inspiration  as  we  enter  into  the  meaning  of  the 
revelation  made  in  Christ  we  catch  some  far  off 


THE   PLACE  FOR  EACH  LIFE  I? 

vision  of  what  the  mighty  life  of  the  Living  God 
is  accomplishing  by  the  use  of  these  myriads  of 
moving,  Christian  cells.  To  be  a  cell  in  the  to- 
tal brain  that  thinks,  in  the  far-reaching  hand 
that  executes,  in  the  mighty  will  that  resolves, 
in  the  full  heart  that  loves  and  prays  for  the 
coming  of  the  perfect  life  of  mankind  according 
to  the  purpose  of  the  Father,  that  is  to  know  the 
joy  of  our  Lord !  That  vision  once  gained  and 
held  will  become  a  driving  force  in  your  whole 
life.  It  will  send  you  straight  into  the  work  of 
useful  ministry,  conscious  that  you  would  be 
missed  if  your  seat  of  usefulness  were  left 
empty. 

On  last  Sunday  a  great  company  was  gather- 
ed here.  It  was  Easter  Day,  and  the  church  has 
never  been  so  beautiful  with  its  wealth  of  flow- 
ers. The  music  was  inspiring  from  the  first 
note  to  the  last.  The  sight  of  the  great  congre- 
gation of  eager,  reverent  worshippers  was  an 
uplift.  The  tones  of  prayer  and  of  God's  own 
word  were  full  of  help.  But  the  most  impress- 
ive fact  of  all  was  the  sight  of  the  sixty-one 
new  members  as  they  stood  before  the  table  of 
the  Lord  to  be  received  into  our  communion 
and  fellowship.  Their  names  are  now  entered 
upon  the  roll  of  Christ's  earthly  church;  there 
is  a  place  for  each  at  the  table  of  the  Lord; 
there  is  Christian  fellowship  awaiting  each  one 
as  he  shall  take  his  place  among  us ;  there  is 


18  THE   PLACE   FOR   EACH 


some  part  of  the  total  work  of  the  kingdom 
that  each  one  can  do  as  no  other  could.  Every 
hea.rt  was  touched  and  moved  by  the  thought  of 
the  wonderful  possibilities  for  good  contained 
in  those  threescore  lives  here  dedicating  them- 
selves to  the  unending  service  of  Christ. 

And  if  you  were  one  of  that  company  you 
surely  must  recognize  your  individual  responsi- 
bility in  the  matter.  No  one  stood  in  your 
shoes;  no  one  else  answered  to  your  name;  no 
one  else  can  show  just  the  type  of  Christian 
life  and  usefulness  that  it  lies  within  your 
power  to  show.  If  you  should  fall  away,  or  be- 
gin to  live  feebly,  listlessly  or  inconsistenty,  a 
place  of  influence  would  be  empty  and  you 
would  be  sadly  missed.  It  is  for  you  to  fill  some 
section  of  this  total  life  full  of  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  it  has  never  been  filled  before. 
"To  him  that  overcometh  I  will  give  a  white 
stone,  and  upon  the  stone  a  new  name  written 
which  no  one  knoweth  but  he  that  receiveth  it." 
Here  we  have  the  personal  recogni- 
tion of  individual  service.  Each  life 
is  lifted  out  of  the  mass  into  the  divine 
attention.  And  to  each  is  given  "a  new  name" 
—  not  the  old  familiar  name  by  which  the  care- 
less world  has  known  this  life,  but  a  new  name 
embodying  the  deeplv  cherished  ideals  together 
with  the  definite  purpose  of  the  Father  for  that 
particular  child. 

In  one  of  our  great  poems,  Henry  IV  comes 


THE  PI.ACE  FOR   EACH  LIFE  19 

back  from  the  field  reporting  a  splendid  victory. 
He  comes  in  the  full  joy  of  honest  triumph  and 
meets  a  certain  warrior  who  had  been  too  faint- 
hearted to  go  in.  The  king  pities  him.  "Go 
hang  yourself,  Crillon,"  he  cries.  "We  fought 
at  Arques  and  you  were  not  there." 

You  are  puzzled  this  morning  per- 
haps with  doubts  and  difficulties — most 
serious  people  are  if  they  are  hon- 
est with  themselves.  But  assume  by  act 
of  faith  that  somehow  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
philosophy  of  life  are  true  and  righteous  alto- 
gether. The  acceptance  of  His  gospel  cer- 
tainly produces  peace,  joy  and  moral  vigor  as 
nothing  else  does.  Assume  then  that  His  gospel 
is  true  and  enlist  under  his  banners.  Go  into 
the  thick  of  the  fight  and  have  a  hand  in  making 
His  principles  and  spirit  stand  fast  and  bear 
rule  in  the  earth.  In  doing  that  the  confidence 
and  assurance  that  you  are  on  the  right  line 
will  grow.  It  would  be  a  sorry  thing  for  you 
because  of  some  quibble  in  your  mind  as  to  a 
certain  intellectual  difficulty,  or  because  some 
other  professing  Christian  has  not  been  all  that 
he  ought  to  have  been,  or  because  you  are  per- 
mitting the  lower  things  of  life  to  obscure  the 
higher,  to  stay  out  of  the  Christian  battle.  No 
man  who  is  conscious  of  ha,ving  shirked  his 
duty  can  ever  be  good  company  for  himself, 
What  an  unspeakable  sense  of  loss  would  be 
yours  en  the  morning  of  the  great  day,  if  that 


20  THE  PLACE  FOR   EACH   LIFE 

same  reproach  should  ring  out  from  those  who 
fought  bravely  to  make  the  Christian  form  of 
life  prevail — ''Go  hang  yourself  Hesitator:  we 
fought  the  Lord's  battle  through  and  you  were 
not  there."  Come  up  then  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  the  mighty  opponents  of  what  is 
best  in  life!  Be  one,  and  a  useful  one  in  that 
sacramental  host  that  shall  bring  in  the  king- 
dom of  righteousness  and  joy  and  love ! 


The 

Common  Sense  Idea 
of  Prayer 


By 
REV.  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 


BAKEE  PKINTTNG  Co. 

OAKLAND,    GAL. 
1901 


"Men  ought  always  to  pray  and  not 
to  faint"  Luke  18:1. 


Cfte  Common  Sense  Idea  of  Prayer; 


[HE  wisest  One  who  ever  walked  the 
earth  said,  "Men  ought  always  to 
pray  and  not  to  faint."  You  may 
say  broadly  that  men  always  have 
prayed.  The  indications  are  that  they  always 
will. 

Some  have  prayed  intelligently,  some  super- 
stitiously.  Some  pray  regularly  and  devoutly; 
some  irregularly  or  only  in  times  of  emergency . 
There  are  exceptional  individuals  who  may 
never  pray  at  all.  You  will  find  odd  men  in 
all  communities — some  of  them  do  not  care  for 
music;  some  have  no  taste  for  literature;  some 
have  no  desire  for  married  life;  and  some 
never  pray.  But  the  truth  remains  that  man 
is  a  praying  being.  The  historian  was  right 
when  he  said  after  a  careful  survey  of  the 
world,  ''There  have  been  cities  without  walls, 
without  armies,  without  markets  or  commerce, 
without  books  or  art,  but  there  have  been  no 
cities  without  their  places  of  prayer. J '  It  is  the 
persistent  habit  of  our  race. 

The  fact  that  the  widespread  custom  of 
prayer  has  endured  through  all  these  centuries 
indicates  its  value.  The  scientist  tells  us  that 


*The  sixth  in  a  series  of  addresses  on  "Common  Sense  in 
Religion." 


6  THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER 

if  you  find  a  fin  on  a  fish  or  a  wing  on  a  bird 
or  what  is  popularly  called  an  "instinct"  in 
an  animal,  the  very  fact  that  it  is  there,  indi- 
cates that  it  has  been  useful;  otherwise  it 
would  not  have  been  kept  up.  When  water- 
breathing  animals  came  ashore  and  began  to 
become  air-breathing  animals,  the  gills,  and 
the  fins  and  tail  useful  for  swimming,  were 
gradually  surrendered.  They  served  no  use- 
ful purpose  so  they  fell  off  or  became  rudi- 
mentary. Unless  prayer  sustained  some  vital 
relation  to  man's  well-being  it  would  not  have 
endured.  The  fact  that  the  race  always  has 
prayed  and  that  more  prayer  and  more  intel- 
ligent prayer  is  being  offered  in  this  twentieth 
century  than  ever  before,  raises  a  strong  pre- 
sumption that  prayer  is  rational  and  useful. 

The  best  men  have  been  men  of  prayer. 
Think  of  the  largest,  completest,  finest  men 
you  have  known  personally  or  in  history — 
they  were  men  of  prayer.  It  would  have 
placed  a  limitation  on  your  estimate  of  them, 
had  they  lacked  this  human  trait.  There 
have  been  second  best  men  who  have  not 
prayed.  It  is  possible  for  a  resolute  blind 
man  to  accomplish  much;  he  would  accomplish 
more  if  he  had  his  eyes.  A  prayerless  man  may 
gain  some  degree  of  noble  character;  he  would 
rise  that  much  higher  were  he  to  add  prayer 
to  his  resources.  No  man  can  live  a  life  that 
is  less  than  normal  without  loss,  and  prayer 


THE  COMMON  SENSE   IDEA  OF  PRAYER  7 

is  a  normal  element  in  the  life  of  moral  as- 
piration. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  Christ  prayed.  He 
prayed  much  himself  and  said  more  about 
prayer  than  any  other  speaker  reported  in  the 
Bible.  He  used  to  go  away  into  the  moun- 
tains and  continue  sometimes  all  night  in 
prayer.  "  As  he  was  praying  in  a  certain 
place  his  disciples  came  to  him  and  said, 
Lord  teach  us  to  pray."  They  coveted  his 
unusual  ability  in  prayer.  It  is  significant 
that  the  Man  whom  the  most  enlightened  and 
progressive  portions  of  the  world  have  with 
one  accord  selected  as  the  ideal  Man,  was  con- 
spicuously a  man  of  prayer.  The  human  race 
in  its  highest  reach  of  moral  attainment  prays. 
Even  to  those  whose  own  habit  of  prayer  is 
fitful  and  feeble,  Christ  would  not  stand  as  the 
perfect  Man  if  he  had  not  prayed.  The  world 
thus  voices  its  feeling  that  prayer  is  essential 
to  the  highest  humanity. 

It  will  be  instructive  then  to  notice  a  few 
points  in  the  teaching  of  Christ  about  prayer. 
The  common  people  heard  him  gladly  when 
he  was  here  and  common-sense  people  today 
have  a  feeling  that  in  his  words  more  than  in 
any  others,  we  find  the  plain  truth  about 
religion. 

Jesus  told  men  to  avoid  ostentation  and  use- 
less repetition  in  prayer.  They  were  not  to  pray 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF  PRAYER 


standing  on  the  street  corners  seeking  applause 
for  their  piety.  They  were  not  to  rattle 
through  sacred  phrases  for  the  sake  of  count- 
ing off  so  many  "Pater  Nosters  "  or  other 
fixed  forms  of  prayer.  This,  he  said,  is  the 
way  "the  heathen  do,"  but  "they  are  not 
heard  for  their  much  speaking. ' '  Real  prayer 
is  quiet,  simple  and  is  uttered  in  spirit  and  in 
truth. 

Jesus  taught  that  prayer  must  be  offered  in 
humility.  The  man  who  stands  up  and  prays 
with  himself,  bragging  that  he  is  '  *  not  as 
other  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers 
or  publicans,"  goes  away  unanswered  and  un- 
blessed. The  man  who  humbly  acknowledges 
his  needs  and  says,  ' '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner,"  goes  down  to  his  house  "justified," 
that  is  "made  right." 

Jesus  told  men  to  pray  in  faith.  "Whatso- 
ever things  ye  ask  when  ye  pray,  believe  that 
ye  are  receiving  them,  and  ye  shall  have  them. 
If  ye  shall  say  to  this  mountain,  be  thou  re- 
moved and  cast  into  the  sea,  and  shalt  not 
doubt  in  thine  heart,  it  shall  be  done. ' '  We 
have  here  an  instance  of  the  oriental  hyperbole 
frequently  used  by  Christ  to  make  truths 
striking.  He  said,  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel 
to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  a 
rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God."  It 
is  absolutely  impossible  for  a  camel  to  pass 
through  a  needle's  eye,  so  long  as  the  camel 


THE   COMMON   SENSE  IDEA   OF   PRAYER  9 

remains  a  camel  and  the  needle  a  needle. 
Any  miracle  enlarging  one  or  contracting  the 
other  would  change  the  terms  of  the  compari- 
son and  thus  destroy  its  meaning.  But  it  is 
not  impossible  for  rich  men  to  enter  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  for  Jesus  numbered  among  his 
close  followers  and  dearest  friends,  certain 
men  of  large  means.  The  strong  statement 
is  simply  an  oriental  way  of  saying  that  it  is 
exceedingly  difficult  to  manage  large  posses- 
sions in  thorough  harmony  with  the  spirit  and 
method  of  Christ's  kingdom;  and  every  con- 
scientious man  of  wealth  knows  that  difficulty. 
The  statement  about  "moving  the  mountain' ' 
is  also  an  instance  of  the  oriental  habit  of 
using  a  striking  figure.  No  man  ever  moved 
a  mountain  by  prayer.  It  is  simply  the  east- 
ern way  of  urging  upon  us  the  importance 
of  having  large  expectations  when  we  pray. 
It  is  the  prayer  of  faith  that  "availeth  much.' ' 
Jesus  told  us  there  was  an  advantage  in 
united  effort  in  prayer.  "  If  two  of  you  shall 
agree  touching  any  thing  that  ye  shall  ask  in 
my  name,  it  shall  be  done."  The  correction 
of  adding  judgment  to  judgment  and  aspir- 
ation to  aspiration  would  do  much  to  prevent 
queer  perversions  and  exaggerations  in  the 
noble  exercise  of  prayer.  There  is  also  an 
advantage  in  concerted  effort  in  any  line  of 
work,  in  prayer  as  well  as  in  all  other  forms 
of  endeavor. 


10  THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF   PRAYER 

Jesus  taught  us  to  persevere  in  our  praying. 
He  told  a  story  about  a  widow  and  an  unjust 
judge.  The  official  did  not  fear  God  or 
man.  He  refused  to  hear  the  woman's  case 
for  a  time  but  after  a  while  he  said  "lest 
she  weary  me  by  her  continual  coming  I  will 
decide  her  case."  Jesus  told  another  similar 
story  about  a  man  into  whose  home  company 
came  unexpectedly  finding  him  without  bread 
in  the  house.  He  went  to  a  neighbor  and 
asked  for  a  loaf  that  he  might  give  his  guests 
their  supper.  The  churlish  neighbor  refused 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  in  bed  and  did  riot 
want  to  get  up.  But  the  friend  kept  on  knock- 
ing and  at  last  simply  because  the  neighbor 
could  not  sleep,  he  got  up  and  gave  him  a 
loaf,  not  from  neighborliness  but  because  of 
the  importunity  of  the  request.  Jesus  did  not 
represent  God  as  being  an  unjust  judge  nor  an 
indifferent,  selfish  neighbor,  but  he  showed 
the  value  of  perseverance  under  these  unfavor- 
able circumstances.  And  his  argument  was, 
if  continuance  in  asking  accomplishes  so  much 
in  the  face  of  these  discouraging  facts,  how 
much  more  will  it  gain  when  directed  to  "Our 
Father  who  is  in  heaven. " 

Jesus  taught  that  character  is  demanded  for 
efficiency  in  prayer.  "  When  you  pray,  say, 
1  Our  Father.'  "  You  must  be  seeking  to  live 
as  God's  children,  reverent,  trustful,  obedient, 
before  you  can  even  utter  the  first  words  of  real 


THE  COMMON  SENSE   IDEA  OP  PRAYER  II 

prayer.  And  again,  "  If  a  son  shall  ask  bread 
of  any  of  you  that  is  a  father  will  ye  give  him 
a  stone  ? ' '  The  one  who  offers  the  request 
must  be  living  as  a  son,  at  home  with  his 
father.  And  again,  M  If  ye  shall  ask  anything 
in  my  name,  I  will  do  it."  This  does  not 
mean  that  the  title  of  Jesus  must  always  be 
subscribed  at  the  end  of  the  prayer  as  a  kind 
of  official  endorsement  or  "Open  Sesame." 
There  is  no  magic  in  the  sound  of  a  certain 
combination  of  letters  even  though  they  have 
become  sacred.  Reliance  on  the  letter,  no 
matter  what  the  letters  are,  kills  and  only  the 
Spirit  maketh  alive.  To  pray  ' '  in  the  name  " 
of  Christ  is  to  pray  in  His  spirit,  out  of  a  heart 
surrendered  to  Him  and  possessed  by  His 
grace.  And  once  more,  "If  ye  abide  in  me 
and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ye  shall  ask  what 
ye  will  and  it  shall  be  done."  Abiding  in 
Christ  means  a  settled  habit  and  disposition 
that  has  become  the  abode  of  His  Spirit. 
That  sort  of  character,  wise,  devoted,  useful, 
sincere,  will  know  how  to  pray  aright  and  will 
offer  an  effective  prayer.  If  our  own  prayers 
bring  meagre  results  may  it  not  be  that  the 
lack  is  in  personal  character  ? 

Jesus  laid  the  chief  emphasis  on  spiritual 
blessings.  It  is  permissible  to  pray  about  all 
that  concerns  our  well  being,  but  the  bulk  of 
prayer  according  to  His  teaching  and  example 
should  be  for  moral  renewal,  for  spiritual 


12  THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER 


strength,  for  faithfulness  in  the  performance  of 
duty  and  for  the  redemption  of  the  world. 

''After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye" — 
not  always  in  these  words  but  along  these 
general  lines.  Five  petitions  follow:  "Our 
Father  who  art  in  Heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy 
name  "  —a  prayer  for  reverence  toward  God. 
"  Thy  kingdom  come;  thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven  " — a  prayer  for  the 
rule  of  His  Spirit  in  the  lives  of  all  mankind. 
' '  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread "  —  a 
prayer  for  one  day's  supply  of  the  simplest 
necessities.  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we 
forgive  our  debtors  " — a  prayer  for  divine  for- 
giveness and  for  charity  toward  the  failures  of 
others,  the  one  to  be  conditioned  upon  the 
other.  "  L,ead  us  out  of  temptation  and  de- 
liver us  from  evil" — a  prayer  for  guidance 
into  right  conduct  and  for  a  heart  freed  from 
the  stain  of  sin. 

There  you  have  what  Jesus  called  the  norm 
of  appropriate  prayer — only  one  of  the  five 
petitions  having  reference  to  material  things 
and  that  a  simple  request  for  the  day's  neces- 
sities. The  other  four-fifths  of  the  prayer  is 
for  moral  and  spiritual  blessings. 

If  our  prayers  were  held  to  these  standards 
laid  down  by  Jesus  there  would  be  less  con- 
fusion, discouragement  and  uncertainty  in 
prayer.  If  we  prayed  according  to  these  seven 
instructions  given  us,  there  would  come  also  a 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF   PRAYER  13 

greatly  increased  sense  of  the  value  and  efficacy 
of  prayer. 

Sometimes  certain  superstitious  practices 
have  been  pushed  forward  throwing  reproach 
upon  prayer.  In  early  times  and  with  un- 
developed people,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 
such  instances.  Their  language,  their  domestic 
life,  their  political  institutions,  their  commercial 
efforts  and  their  prayers  were  all  rudimentary. 
But  even  these  simple  attempts  after  fellowship 
with  God  stand  as  the  hint  and  promise  of 
something  higher.  Sometimes  mere  curious 
coincidences  have  been  enlarged  upon  as  won- 
derful examples  of  answer  to  prayer.  These 
singular  occurrences  have  often  been  over- 
valued. Our  confidence  had  better  rest  upon 
the  broad  and  ordinary  lines  of  human  experi- 
ence where  uninterrupted  answers  are  coming 
back  to  men  as  they  pray. 

When  we  study  the  teaching  of  Christ,  we 
find  prayer  is  not  magic  by  which  we  can  out- 
wit the  laws  of  Nature.  Prayer  does  not  give 
men  carte  blanche  so  that  they  can  get  what- 
ever they  want.  God  never  resigns  the  man- 
agement of  His  world  into  the  hands  of  his 
fumbling  and  mistaken  children,  even  though 
they  approach  him  on  their  knees.  "  The  ef- 
fectual fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man 
availeth  much  " — much,  but  not  every  thing  ! 
Underneath  all  rational  prayer  lies  the  assumed 


14  THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA    OF  PRAYER 


principle,  "Thy  will  be  done."  Christ 
prayed  in  faith  but  did  not  receive  everything 
he  asked.  He  prayed  that  if  it  were  possible, 
a  certain  cup  might  pass  from  Him.  It  did 
not  pass — He  drank  it  next  day  upon  the 
cross.  But  he  continued  in  prayer  until  he 
could  say,  "  nevertheless  not  my  will  but 
thine  be  done. "  He  prayed  also  until  He  had 
strength  for  the  doing  of  that  will.  It  is  well 
therefore  to  bear  in  mind  these  seven  princi- 
ples taught  by  Christ— the  notes  of  true 
prayer  are  simplicity,  humility,  faith,  agree- 
ment with  others,  perseverance,  sincerity  and 
a  strong  emphasis  on  spiritual  blessings. 

But  certain  objections  are  always  arising. 
We  are  told  that  if  God  is  wise  and  good  He 
will  give  us  what  is  best  for  us  without  our 
asking  Him.  Therefore  why  should  we  ask  ? 

What  a  stupid  question !  Would  you  ad- 
vise a  boy  never  to  speak  to  his  father  unless 
he  believed  it  would  gain  for  him  a  costlier 
Christmas  present  next  time  or  a  larger  share 
of  the  estate  ?  What  a  freak  the  boy  would 
be  if  he  said,  "  My  father  is  wise  and  good; 
he  will  do  for  me  what  is  best,  so  there  is  no 
need  oi  my  talking  with  him — I  will  go  down 
and  spend  my  time  talking  with  these  fellows 
at  the  corner."  Is  it  not  worthwhile  for  a 
man  to  talk  with  his  Heavenly  Father  even  if 
he  is  not  paid  for  it  in  cash  or  health  or  fame 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER  15 


or  other  material  success  ?  Could  we  not  talk 
with  our  Father  of  our  interests  even  if  it  re- 
sulted in  nothing  beyond  the  sacred  joy  and 
privilege  of  being  in  His  company  ?  You  de- 
light in  spending  an  hour  with  a  friend  even 
though  the  idea  that  it  may  add  a  little  to  the 
value  of  the  next  birthday  present  he  gives 
you,  never  enters  your  mind. 

The  prayer  receives  a  great,  gracious  and 
valuable  answer  in  that  it  brings  us  into  fel- 
lowship with  the  Father.  The  fact  that 
you  are  there,  kneeling,  looking  up,  feeling, 
aspiring,  loving  is  an  answer.  The  very  fact 
that  you  are  in  conference  with  the  highest 
conception  of  righteousness  your  mind  can  en- 
tertain is  an  unspeakable  privilege.  You 
never  think  of  asking  if  it  were  not  as  well  to 
leave  him  alone,  trusting  that  He  will  do  what 
is  best  without  being  asked,  in  order  that  you 
may  seek  some  lower  companionship  ! 

But  it  is  legitimate  and  helpful  to  talk  over 
our  ordinary  interests  with  our  Father  in  the 
hope  of  receiving  something.  Your  boy  comes 
to  you,  not  talking  about  your  larger  interests 
as  a  business  man  and  a  citizen,  but  about  his 
own  affairs — tops,  marbles,  kites,  dogs,  wheels 
and  the  like.  You  bend  down  from  your 
higher  wisdom  and  richer  experience,  entering 
into  his  life  and  seeking  to  lead  him  more  and 
more  as  the  years  pass,  up  into  your  own. 
The  fact  that  he  comes  and  talks  over  his 


1 6  THE  COMMON   SENSE   IDEA   OF   PRAYER 

needs  in  toys  and  games  strengthens  that 
helpful  bond  between  you  and  your  child. 
And  in  similar  fashion  God  for  the  sake  of 
strengthening  the  bond  between  himself  and 
his  children  conditions  certain  of  his  choicest 
gifts  upon  our  asking.  This  bond  is  so  es- 
sential to  the  development  of  character  that 
certain  advantages  are  offered  as  the  result  of 
our  coming  to  Him  in  prayer,  for  the  express 
purpose  of  strengthening  the  tie  between  us. 

Hear  the  wisdom  of  Christ  on  this  point 
—sound  psychology,  philosophy  and  ethics 
unlie  his  promises ! 

"  Ask;"  go  to  your  Father,  talk  over  your 
life  with  Him,  make  request  here  and  there 
wherever  your  need  crops  out.  Your  be- 
ing there  regularly  with  Him  is  an  end  so  im- 
portant in  itself,  that  He  conditions  certain 
gifts  upon  your  asking,  in  order  to  secure 
your  presence.  "Ask  and  ye  shall  receive." 

"Seek;"  let  your  spirit  go  out  upon  the 
quest  of  a  nobler  companionship  than  human 
society  can  afford,  in  pursuit  of  gifts  that  your 
unaided  strength  cannot  reach,  on  a  pilgrimage 
of  high  spiritual  endeavor  that  in  itself  is  such 
an  immense  gain  to  your  life  that  God  condi- 
tions certain  "finds"  upon  the  quest.  "Seek 
and  ye  shall  find." 

' '  Knock ' '  at  all  the  doors  earth  offers,  and 
also  at  the  doors  that  open  on  the  treasure 
house  of  the  Unseen,  for  a  divine  welcome 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF  PRAYER     17 

awaits  you.  The  very  fact  that  you  are 
there,  only  a  door  separating  you  from  the 
Highest  Companionship  is  in  itself  so  valu- 
able that  an  entrance  upon  yet  higher  values 
is  conditioned  on  your  presence  and  your 
knock.  Therefore  "knock  and  it  shall  be 
opened  unto  you." 

"  Hours  are  well  spent  when  they  are  spent 
with  Him ' '  and  to  further  enlarge  this  com- 
panionship, the  giver  of  every  good  and  per- 
fect gift  has  tendered  us  certain  benefits  con- 
ditioned upon  our  reverent,  trustful,  expectant 
attitude  in  His  Presence. 


But  the  objection  is  made  that  answers  to 
prayer  would  interfere  with  ' '  the  uniformity 
ot  nature;"  an  answered  prayer  would  be  a 
violation  of  natural  law.  If  that  were  true,  it 
would  be  a  fatal  objection.  We  live  in  a 
world  of  order  and  not  of  disorder. 

But  is  prayer  an  effort  to  interfere  with 
natural  law  ?  We  are  always  interfering  with 
a  certain  sort  of  uniformity.  My  Bible  lies 
there  on  the  pulpit.  The  power  of  gravitation 
would  tend  to  keep  it  there,  all  night,  all  the 
year,  all  the  years  until  the  church  might 
crumble  into  dust.  But  when  this  service  is 
over,  I  shall  pick  it  up,  carry  it  home  and  read 
in  it  during  the  week.  I  introduce  a  higher 
force  which  does  what  neither  the  Bible  itself 


l8  THE  COMMON   SENSE   IDEA   OF   PRAYER 

nor  gravitation  nor  any  of  the  elements  in  the 
present  uniformity  could  accomplish. 

The  child's  balloon  floats  in  the  air  but  is 
growing  stale  and  tends  to  settle  to  the  floor. 
With  a  single  breath,  soft,  unseen  but  real,  I 
blow  it  up  to  the  ceiling.  There  is  no  viola- 
tion of  natural  law,  but  again  the  introduction 
of  a  higher  though  unseen  force  which  alters 
the  situation. 

I  have  eaten  my  dinner  and  according  to 
the  laws  of  physiology,  my  various  organs 
have  begun  to  digest  it.  Suddenly  a  telegram 
is  handed  me  containing  sad  and  terrible 
news !  Instantly  my  whole  mind  is  upon 
that.  Every  physician  will  tell  you  that  the 
process  of  digestion  is  interfered  with  by  this 
change  of  thought  and  possibly  so  arrested 
that  the  dinner  is  not  assimilated.  Again 
there  is  no  violation  of  natural  law,  but  the 
introduction  of  a  higher  force,  immaterial,  in- 
visible, simply  a  new  set  of  thoughts,  but 
powerful  in  effect.  Everywhere  you  will  find 
that  the  lower  uniformities  are  being  inter- 
fered with  by  the  introduction  of  higher  forces. 

A  man  begins  to  pray;  he  pours  out 
thought,  hope,  aspiration,  devotion  and  will 
in  his  approach  to  God.  Is  not  that  also  a 
new  force  ?  The  invisible  breath  will  carry 
the  balloon  to  the  ceiling,  not  violating,  but 
overcoming  the  power  of  gravitation  that 
draws  it  down;  the  sad  thoughts  developed  by 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF   PRAYER  19 

the  telegram  stop  digestion,  not  violating  but 
overcoming  lower  physical  processes.  And 
when  I  throw  my  whole  nature  into  prayer- 
ful effort,  the  most  strenuous  a  thing  a  man 
can  do,  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  that 
the  introduction  of  this  force  could  work  no 
results.  It  accomplishes  certain  definite  and 
valuable  ends  and  by  the  same  method  illus- 
trated above.  It  is  the  introduction  of  a  higher 
force  that  rearranges  what  we  had  called  "the 
uniformities  of  nature." 

People  are  sometimes  unnecessarily  fright- 
ened by  a  pretentious  phrase.  "The  uni- 
formity of  nature  " — there  is  such  a  thing. 
God  is  orderly,  not  disorderly,  in  his  activi- 
ties. In  the  spiritual  no  less  than  in  the 
material  world  this  is  true.  We  know  a  little 
of  this  "uniformity  of  nature"  but  not  enough 
to  define  or  limit  it.  We  make  ourselves 
ridiculous  when  we  set  up  the  few  things  we 
have  learned  and  claim  that  these  would  block 
God's  way  and  make  it  impossible  for  Him  to 
answer  prayer.  This  is  raw,  dogmatic  as- 
sumption and  an  affront  to  science  no  less  than 
to  honest  theology.  We  are  as  yet  feeling  our 
way  toward  the  total  "  Uniformity  "  which 
lies  far  beyond  our  present  knowledge. 

A  simple  illustration  makes  this  plain.  If 
I  had  gone  to  Professor  Huxley  ten  years  ago 
knowing  what  I  know  now,  and  had  told  him 
that  I  had  seen  the  two  bones  of  my  fore- arm 


20  THE  COMMON   SENSE  IDEA   OF   PRAYER 

right  through  my  coat  sleeve  and  right  through 
my  flesh,  as  plainly  as  I  see  the  bones  in  a 
chicken  wing  I  am  dissecting  on  my  plate,  he 
would  have  thought  I  was  slightly  deranged. 
If  I  had  gone  further  and  told  him  that  I  had 
seen  all  the  separate  bones  of  my  wrist  and 
hand,  right  through  the  flesh  and  even 
through  a  thick  book  held  between  my  eyes 
and  the  hand,  he  would  have  put  me  down  as 
entirely  crazy.  He  would  have  said  that  such 
a  claim  is  on  the  face  of  it  a  violation  of  the 
law  of  optics;  that  for  a  man  to  see  through  a 
dictionary  and  study  the  bones  of  his  hand  on 
the  other  side,  would  be  a  contradiction  of  the 
"uniformity  of  nature."  And  yet  I  would 
have  been  correct  and  the  professor  mistaken 
for  by  the  aid  of  the  X-rays  I  have  done  ex- 
actly what  I  have  described. 

The  uniformity  of  nature  is  an  elastic 
phrase.  We  are  constantly  enlarging  and 
changing  its  contents  as  we  learn  more.  And 
according  to  the  teaching  of  Scripture,  of 
wide-spread  religious  experience  and  of  com- 
mon sense,  the  efficacy  of  intelligent  and 
righteous  prayer  has  a  place  within  that  dimly 
recognized  uniformity,  toward  which  we  feel 
our  way.  Within,  not  apart  from  or  off  in 
some  disorderly  realm  where  the  Father  plays 
at  sixes  and  sevens  with  his  children — within 
the  larger  uniformities  of  nature,  that  spiritual 
force  called  prayer  has  its  place  and  does  its 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF  PRAYER     21 

mighty  work !  There  it  will  ever  be  found 
true  as  Jesus  said  and  as  millions  of  praying 
hearts  have  learned  by  personal  experiment, 
when  we  "  ask  "  we  "  receive. " 

We  frankly  grant  that  there  are  limits  to 
the  possible  achievements  of  this  line  of  effort. 
There  are  limits  to  all  our  human  powers.  I 
can  pick  up  the  Bible  and  carry  it  home — I 
cannot  carry  away  the  whole  church,  I  can 
blow  a  child's  balloon  to  the  ceiling — I  could 
not  blow  a  croquet  ball  there.  Thought  af- 
fects digestion  favorably  or  unfavorably,  but 
not  to  such  an  extent  that  pleasant  thoughts 
would  enable  one  to  digest  a  glass  marble  if 
he  had  swallowed  it.  Even  in  prayer  for 
spiritual  results,  the  sane  mind  recognizes 
limits.  You  could  not  induce  this  congrega- 
tion of  a  thousand  people  to  engage  sincerely 
in  prayer  that  the  whole  Chinese  nation  might 
be  converted  to  Christ  tonight  before  we  leave 
the  church.  Such  results  lie  beyond  the 
limits  of  reasonable  expectation.  The  effect- 
ual, fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man 
availeth  much  —  that  is  the  utmost  claim  a 
thoughtful  Christian  makes. 

We  have  not  reduced  the  possibilities  of  this 
prayer- force,  acting  within  the  larger  uni- 
formities of  God,  to  an  exact  science.  We 
have  not  reduced  to  a  science  the  influence  of 
a  mother 's  love  for  her  children,  nor  the  sub- 


22  THE  COMMON   SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER 

tie  effect  of  a  man's  good  name  upon  his  suc- 
cess in  the  world,  nor  the  physical  results  of  a 
cheerful  habit  of  mind.  Shall  we  therefore 
refuse  to  utilize  the  mother  love,  the  good 
name,  the  cheerful  disposition  simply  because 
we  cannot  measure  their  results  with  a  foot 
rule  nor  lay  them  out  with  metes  and  bounds  ? 
Prayerful  hearts  are  sometimes  unnecessarily 
abashed  in  the  presence  of  critical  assumptions 
that  turn  out  to  be  absurd  when  seen  in  the 
light  of  day. 

We  have  not  reduced  to  a  science  the  action 
of  the  forces  at  work  in  a  wheat  field.  They 
are  too  many  and  too  intricate  for  our  present 
knowledge.  No  scientist  can  tell  us  in  advance 
just  how  many  grains  in  a  bushel  of  wheat 
will  fail  to  sprout  and  grow.  Complete  intel- 
ligence could  do  that,  for  the  wheat  field  is  a 
scene  of  order.  Complete  intelligence  could 
tell  us  why  some  prayers  are  answered  and 
why  some  are  not  and  announce  in  advance 
the  exact  results  to  be  gained  by  the  prayers 
of  any  given  community.  But  such  science 
in  wheat  culture  or  in  the  field  of  moral  life  is 
far  beyond  us.  It  is  enough  for  the  farmer 
to  know  that  if  he  sows  he  will  reap.  The 
harvests  are  sufficiently  sure  to  make  his  hope 
of  a  return  an  encouragement  to  effort.  And 
thus  thoughtful  people  keep  on  praying,  as- 
sured by  the  promises  of  Christ  and  by  the 
ever  accumulating  volume  of  religious  exper- 


THE   COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF  PRAYER  23 

ience,  that  prayer  works  its  own  beneficent 
results. 

It  may  be  well  to  lay  the  argument  built 
entirely  from  the  considerations  of  common 
sense  beside  the  Scripture  teaching.  We  are 
surrounded  here  by  a  Power  not  ourselves. 
The  conclusion  of  science  and  of  philosophy  is 
that  this  Power  is  One.  If  this  Power  is  able 
to  create  men  who  can  hear,  He  can  surely 
hear.  You  can  hear  my  words — is  it  not 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Almighty 
Power  has  at  least  equal  ability  ?  You  could 
make  reply — surely  then  He  can.  From  the 
fact  that  He  has  created  moral  beings  and 
has  made  the  constitution  of  things  to  favor 
morality  and  not  immorality,  we  safely  con- 
clude that  He  has  moral  interests  at  heart 
and  is  a  Moral  Being  himself.  If  He  has  even 
as  much  moral  interest  in  me  as  you  have,  He 
would  therefore  want  to  make  reply  when  I 
call  to  him  in  my  need.  You  would  do  as 
much  as  that.  He  would  help  wisely  and  not 
unwisely,  aiding  me  not  always  according  to 
the  ignorance  of  my  request,  but  according  to 
His  larger  insight. 

There  you  have  the  argument  of  common 
sense  !  Is  it  not  valid  ?  Now  if  millions  of 
human  beings  have  come  to  Him  in  prayer, 
guilty,  sorrowing,  weak,  unhappy,  and  have 
been  forgiven,  helped,  cheered,  uplifted  and 
morally  renewed;  if  in  addition  to  that,  the 


24  THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA  OF  PRAYER 

atmosphere  of  homes  has  been  changed  by 
prayer;  if  communities  have  advanced  to 
higher  levels  by  having  places  of  prayer  and 
the  habits  of  prayer;  if  intelligent  prayer  is 
one  of  the  constant  accompaniments  of  wide- 
spread moral  progress,  then  we  find  in  these 
ascertainable  facts  of  human  experience,  a 
mighty  confirmation  of  the  validity  of  our 
common  sense  argument  as  to  the  reasonable- 
ness and  the  efficacy  of  prayer. 

The  argument  of  John  Fiske,  built  up  by  a 
thoroughgoing  evolutionist  in  terms  of  science, 
is  a  strong  one.  The  subjective  powers  in 
man  have  always  been  developed,  he  says, 
with  reference  to  objective  realties.  "  The 
eye  was  developed  in  response  to  the  outward 
existence  of  radiant  light;  the  ear  in  response 
to  the  outward  existence  of  acoustic  vibra- 
tions; the  mother  love  came  in  response  to 
the  infant's  need.  Every  stage  of  enlarge- 
ment has  had  reference  to  actual  existences 
outside;  every  where  the  internal  adjustment 
has  been  brought  about  so  as  to  harmonize 
»with  some  actually  existing  external  fact. 
Now  if  the  relation  thus  established  in  the 
morning  twilight  of  man's  existence  between 
the  human  soul  and  a  world  immaterial  and 
invisible  is  a  relation  of  which  only  the  sub- 
jective term  is  real  and  the  objective  term 
non-existent,  then  I  say  it  is  something  utterly 
without  precedent  in  the  whole  history  of 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER  25 

creation."  If  the  capacity  of  man  for  fellow- 
ship with  God  in  prayer  is  real  only  at  our  end 
of  the  line  and  unreal  at  the  other,  then  it  is 
an  utter  break  in  the  whole  method  discerned 
in  the  ascertained  uniformities  of  nature.  It 
is  the  verdict  of  this  scientist  therefore  that 
there  is  everlasting  reality  and  validity  in  the 
relation  of  the  human  soul  to  God  through 
worship,  prayer  and  fellowship. 

The  universe  is  to  God  something  as  the 
body  of  the  man  is  to  the  man  himself.  It  is 
something  visible,  tangible,  built  up  by  the 
energy  of  His  own  life.  The  universe  is  not 
God  but  He  built  it  by  cosmic  processes. 
He  lives  in  it  and  reveals  himself  through  it. 
His  life  permeates  every  part  of  it  and  He  can 
express  thought  and  will  in  any  fraction  of  it 
as  a  man  can  do  in  the  parts  of  his  body.  The 
energy  of  his  beneficent  L,ife  is  therefore 
present  everywhere. 

Then  the  question  naturally  arises  how  can 
a  man  best  avail  himself  of  the  helps  offered 
by  this  ever  present  life  of  God  ?  It  is  be- 
lieved as  a  result  of  long  continued  spiritual 
experiment  that  prayer  is  the  best  attitude  in 
which  to  receive  the  re- enforcement  of  this 
All- Enfolding  I4fe  of  God.  The  attitude  of 
simplicity,  humility,  expectancy,  trust  and 
love  is  the  attitude  that  most  largely  receives. 
This  attitude  is  precisely  the  one  that  is  deep- 


26  THE   COMMON   SENSE   IDEA    OF   PRAYER 


ened  and  made  permanent  by  the  exercise  of 
prayer. 

Prayer  then  enables  God  to  more  fully  be- 
stow his  helpfulness  upon  the  life  of  Man. 
You  hold  in  your  hand  what  the  boys  call  a 
' '  burning  glass. ' '  You  may  concentrate  the 
rays  of  the  sun  with  it  and  burn  a  hole  in  a 
coat  sleeve  or  light  a  bunch  of  shavings.  The 
sun  shines  steadily  no  matter  where  your  glass 
may  be.  But  it  makes  a  profound  difference 
in  your  utilizing  the  rays  of  the  sun  whether 
your  glass  is  clean  or  half  covered  with  mud, 
whether  it  is  held  squarely  toward  the  sun, 
and  whether  you  focus  the  rays  it  receives 
upon  the  object  to  be  ignited.  The  habit  of 
prayer  in  the  moral  world  is  our  noblest  effort 
to  make  the  life  clean,  to  hold  it  squarely  and 
frankly  before  God,  and  to  concentrate  the 
aids  offered  by  Him  upon  our  own  highest 
moral  development  and  usefulness. 

The  man  who  comes  before  God  in  sincere, 
thoughtful  prayer,  is  bringing  the  best  that  is 
in  him  to  its  best .  He  is  breathing  the  native 
air  of  the  noblest  type  of  human  character. 
The  foul  and  noxious  gases  in  the  mines  some- 
times settle  to  the  ground  as  being  heavier 
than  the  ordinary  atmosphere.  A  dog  follow- 
ing his  master  will  breathe  them  until  he  falls 
stupid  or  dead.  The  man  stands  higher;  he 
is  breathing  a  different  air  and  so  he  passes  on 
unharmed.  The  attitude  of  prayer  is  the  act 


THE  COMMON  SENSE  IDEA   OF  PRAYER  27 

of  a  man  rising  to  a  higher  plane  of  thought, 
of  feeling  and  of  action.  He  is  breathing  the 
higher,  purer  air  of  God's  own  presence.  He 
is  standing  erect  in  sacred,  helpful  fellowship 
with  the  Father  and  is  moving  toward  the 
stature  of  the  full  grown  man  after  the  measure 
of  Christ. 


The  Mixture 

of 

Good  and  Evil 


By 
REV,  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 


PUBLISHED  BY 

BAKER  PRINTING  Co. 

OAKLAND,  CAL. 
1900 


The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  a 
net  that  was  cast  into  the  sea  and 
gathered  of  every  kind*  When  it 
was  full  they  drew  it  to  shore,  and 
sat  down  and  gathered  the  good  into 
vessels  but  cast  the  bad  away. 


|HE  critics  have  called  Jesus  Christ 
a  visionary  idealist.  An  idealist 
he  certainly  was.  He  could  not 
well  have  been  otherwise.  He 
was  an  oriental  with  the  warmth  and 
passion  of  his  race.  He  did  all  his  work  as 
a  young  man,  finishing  it  when  he  was 
thirty- three.  He  was  setting  standards  for 
a  wide,  enduring  religious  movement  and 
he  could  not  bear  to  set  them  low,  or  to 
have  them  readily  and  easily  attainable. 
They  had  to  be  high,  exacting,  and  for 
years  to  come,  out  of  reach,  in  order  to  be 
effective. 

We  are  not  surprised,  therefore,  that  he 
said  to  men  of  like  passions  with  us:  "Love 
God  with  all  your  hearts."  "  Love  your 
neighbors  as  yourselves . "  '  *  When  ye  pray, 
say,  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven.' '  "  Be  ye  perfect  as  your  Father 
in  heaven  is  perfect. "  These  ideals  are  not 
immediately  attainable,  but  Christ  could 
say  nothing  less.  We  would  not  have  them 
diluted  or  reduced  to  half  their  strength, 
that  we  might  accomplish  them.  When 
we  are  in  a  mood  for  moral  aspiration  we 
want  to  stand  up  before  that  which  is  high 
enough  to  be  divine. 


6  THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVII, 

While  all  this  is  true,  Christ  was  so  sane 
and  wise  that  he  never  forgot  for  a  moment 
that  he  was  to  build  his  kingdom  out  of 
human  beings,  not  out  of  angels.  Flesh 
and  blood  was  to  sit  at  his  table  and  share 
in  his  work  of  redemption.  In  his  preach- 
ing and  in  his  practice  he  showed  a  frank 
preference  for  real,  live,  warm  folks,  rather 
than  for  pale,  ascetic,  unnatural  counter- 
feits. The  enlistment  of  such  followers 
with  their  inevitable  limitations,  the  giving 
of  sacred  responsibilities  into  their  hands, 
the  venture  of  staking  the  future  of  his 
cause  upon  their  conduct  in  the  world, 
would  involve  the  necessity  of  using  much 
that  was  not  ideal.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  whole  history  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment is  in  a  lower  key  than  that  struck  by 
Christ  in  his  initial  utterances. 

He  wisely  prepared  us  for  all  this.  If  he 
had  left  us  with  only  the  lofty  idealism  of 
his  splendid  precepts,  we  might  have  felt, 
in  view  of  our  many  missteps,  that  we  had 
entirely  lost  the  way.  When  Thomas 
doubted  and  Peter  denied  and  Judas  be- 
trayed, it  might  have  seemed  as  if  Chris- 
tianity was  a  failure  at  the  outset.  But 
with  all  his  lofty  passion  for  absolute  per- 
fection, Jesus  gave  us  certain  homely  coun- 
sels, as  plain  and  practical  as  the  sayings 
of  Benjamin  Franklin. 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL      7 

You  may  sow  the  good  seed  of  Christian 
truth,  he  said,  with  all  care  and  zeal.  The 
soil  is  such  that  three-fourths  of  it  may  fail 
of  a  harvest  on  account  of  the  thorns,  the 
trodden  places  and  the  stony  ground.  The 
fate  of  that  one-fourth  which  falls  into  good 
ground  will  be  varied,  here  and  there  a 
hundred  fold  of  return,  in  other  places 
sixty,  in  others  thirty — only  a  third  of  a 
crop. 

You  will  sow  good  seed  in  your  own 
hearts  and  in  the  hearts  of  your  children, 
and  through  no  fault  of  yours — while  you 
are  engaged  in  so  innocent  and  wholesome 
a  necessity  as  sleep — the  enemy  will  come 
and  sow  tares.  To  your  consternation  and 
disappointment,  the  crop  will  be  mixed. 

You  will  cast  your  net  ever  so  wisely  into 
the  sea  and  draw  it  with  a  steady  hand. 
But  beyond  all  your  power  to  prevent  it, 
simply  because  the  world  is  made  so,  you 
will  enclose  fish  that  are  useless  and  nox- 
ious, along  with  the  good  and  wholesome. 
There  will  have  to  come  a  time  when  you 
sit  down  before  this  mixed  result  in  the 
spirit  of  wise  patience  to  gather  the  good 
into  vessels  and  to  cast  the  bad  away. 

There  are  several  points  in  this  parable 
that  deserve  special  emphasis.  First  of  all, 
even  in  those  agencies  which  God  raises  up 
for  the  redemption  of  the  world  there  is  a 


8  THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD   AND  EVII, 

mixture  of  good  and  evil.  It  is  "the  king- 
dom of  heaven ' '  which  is  * '  like  a  net  cast 
into  the  sea,  gathering  of  every  kind. " 

The  mixture  of  good  and  evil  in  the  big 
outside  world  goes  without  saying.  The 
American  nation,  which  is  to  us  the  best 
country  the  sun  shines  on,  shares  this  fate 
with  the  rest  of  the  world.  We  have  writ- 
ten pages  of  history  as  bright  as  the  bright- 
est, and  we  have  written  some  that  we 
would  give  our  right  hands  to  blot  out.  We 
have  masses  of  voters,  thoughtful,  consci- 
entious, sincere,  uncrowned  kings  and  sov- 
ereigns everyone.  And  we  have  voters  by 
the  thousands  who  are  led  by  the  nose  like 
cattle,  swayed  by  prejudice,  caricature, 
bombastic  appeal,  rather  than  by  principle 
and  reason.  This  government  of  the  peo- 
ple and  for  the  people  gathers  of  every 
kind.  The  same  is  true  of  all  secular  in- 
stitutions. 

It  is  true,  also,  of  the  very  kingdom  of 
heaven  itself.  Those  agencies  which  are 
drawing  men  into  the  fellowship  and  service 
of  God,  agencies  oftentimes  subtle,  invis- 
ible as  the  net  in  the  water,  gather  various 
kinds.  The  church  is  not  a  perfect  institu- 
tion. I  do  not  mean,  merely,  that  its  mem- 
bers have  their  share  of  human  limitations. 
It  actually  includes  those  who  are  not  mak~ 
ing  a  serious,  determined  effort  to  overcome 


THE   MIXTURE  OF   GOOD   AND   EVII,  9 

their  faults,  or  to  live  in  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

In  the  prized  leaders  of  the  grand  moral 
movements  of  history  we  discover  this  same 
mingling  of  varied  elements.  John  Calvin 
left  a  profound  impress  on  his  age  for  good, 
but  he  burned  Servetus  at  the  stake  for  his 
theological  opinions  as  the  Spanish  Inquis- 
itors burned  the  Protestants.  George 
Washington  was  the  worthy  and  beloved 
Father  of  his  Country,  but  he  kept  slaves. 
The  Puritans  of  New  England  made  splen- 
did and  permanent  contribution  to  the 
cause  of  righteousness,  to  the  advance  of 
education,  and  to  the  growth  of  civil  liberty, 
but  they  hung  old  women  because  they 
thought  they  were  witches,  and  they  almost 
harried  the  life  out  of  Roger  Williams  for 
being  a  Baptist.  Marcus  Aurelius  was  one 
of  the  purest  of  men  and  left  moral  utter- 
ances which  the  world  gratefully  prints  with 
its  classics,  but  he  persecuted  the  Christians 
more  bitterly  than  did  the  wicked  Nero. 

Travel  where  you  will  up  and  down  his- 
tory, there  are  knots  in  the  log  and  it  will 
not  split  straight.  Jesus  said  it  would  be 
so;  that  the  sacred  efficiency  of  those  forces 
that  constitute  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
would  be  hindered  and  marred  by  the  pres- 
ence of  admixtures  of  evil.  If  men  are  to 
raise  wheat  at  all  they  must  do  it  in  fields 
where  weeds  grow.  If  they  are  to  fish 


10  THE   MIXTURE  OF  GOOD   AND  EVII, 

with  nets,  the  sculpin  and  dog  fish  will 
sometimes  come  in  with  the  bass  and  barra- 
cuda. The  very  agencies  which  God  raises 
up  for  the  world's  redemption  are  modified 
by  the  presence  of  foreign  and  hurtful  ele- 
ments mingled  with  the  good. 

But  this  was  not  to  be  permanent,  and 
for  that  reason  must  not  make  us  compla- 
cent over  the  presence  of  evil.  There  is 
not  a  syllable  in  all  Christ's  teaching  en- 
couraging a  man  to  be  soft  and  indulgent 
toward  the  evil  in  his  own  heart.  It  was  a 
thing  ugly  and  dreadful  in  God's  eyes,  a 
thing  to  be  hated  and  cast  out.  A  man 
might  be  compelled  to  sow  his  seed  in 
thorny  fields  and  stony  ground,  but  he 
could  go  to  his  work  with  clean  hands  and 
a  pure  heart;  he  could  to  the  extent  of  his 
capacity  carry  nothing  but  good  seed,  by 
making  the  very  atmosphere  of  his  per- 
sonal life  clearly  Christian.  He  might  be 
compelled  to  unite  himself  with  an  imper- 
fect church — there  are  no  others  and  a  dull 
tool  is  better  than  no  tool  at  all.  But  he 
could  see  to  it  that  he  did  not  swell  the 
burden  of  its  willful  and  deliberate  imper- 
fection ;  he  could  be  serious  and  strenuous 
in  his  effort  to  make  progress  toward  the 
perfect  life.  The  least  touch  of  compla- 
cency toward  the  evil  of  one's  own  life  is 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL 


wrong ;  the  only  conscientious  attitude  is 
that  of  uncompromising  opposition. 

The  parable  does  not  teach  willing  com- 
placency toward  evil  in  the  church  or  in 
society  or  in  the  nation..  The  man  who  let 
the  tares  grow  with  the  wheat  ' '  until  the 
harvest"  was  not  moved  to  that  course  by 
any  softhearted  leniency  toward  evil  weeds. 
He  cherished  no  sentimental  illusions  as  to 
their  being  "good  wheat  in  the  making." 
There  was  no  blinking  of  the  fact  that  they 
were  useless,  noxious  weeds.  But  the)^ 
could  not  be  rooted  out  without  imperiling 
the  life  of  the  wheat.  The  object  in  view 
was  not  an  ideally  pure  field,  but  the  most 
wheat  possible  from  that  soil,  taking  it  as 
it  was.  The  dominant  purpose  was  the 
gaining  of  real  and  practical  ends. 

The  fisherman  knew  that  there  were  bad 
and  poisonous  fish  in  his  net,  and  he  left 
them  there  "  until  the  net  was  drawn  to  the 
shore, "  because  the  requirements  of  prac- 
tical fishing  made  that  course  inevitable. 
There  was  no  lowering  of  standards  or  con- 
fusing of  wholesome  fish  with  the  bad,  but 
a  patient  submission  to  one  of  the  contin- 
gencies of  fishing  in  a  sea  where  there  is 
"  every  kind,"  and  a  steady  cherishing  of 
that  plain  purpose  of  doing  the  best  work 
possible. 

People  sometimes  grow  so  philosophical 


12  THE   MIXTURE   OF   GOOD   AND   EVII, 


about  the  presence  of  evil  in  the  world,  and 
so  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  what  they  mis- 
takenly call  "charity,"  as  to  mix  their 
colors  and  indulge  in  silly  twaddle  about 
"all  evil  being  good  in  the  making."  Out 
of  this  exaggerated  spirit  of  forbearance 
springs  a  tolerance  that  is  immoral.  Our 
statesmen  tell  us  that  the  good  humor  of 
the  American  people  is  one  of  the  greatest 
foes  to  progress  in  civic  righteousness.  If 
city  officials  fail  to  do  their  duty,  or  steal, 
or  sell  out  the  people's  interests  for  private 
gain,  there  is  a  cold  smile,  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders,  and  the  exclamation,  "That's 
the  way  of  the  world."  The  indulgent 
sense  of  human  limitation  puts  the  con- 
sciences of  church  people  to  sleep  and  the}T 
allow  the  church  to  be  dishonored  by  the 
immoralities  of  members  who  ought  to  be 
summoned  either  to  prompt  repentance  or 
to  dismission.  Deliberate  sin  is  accursed. 
All  evil  that  can  be  cut  off  without  imperil- 
ing the  life  it  afflicts,  must  go,  or  we  be- 
come wicked  accessories.  Surgery  is  a 
more  exact  and  valued  science  than  medi- 
cine, and  where  the  call  is  for  cold,  sharp 
steel  the  quieting  of  pain  by  opiates  may 
mean  loss  of  the  life.  The  only  defensible 
attitude  toward  evil  of  every  sort  is  that  of 
hatred  and  opposition  and  this  parable 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVII,     13 

cannot  be  pleaaed  as  any  sort  of  apology 
for  the  presence  of  wrong. 

The  process  of  discrimination  and  re- 
moval, however,  is  one  that  demands  wise 
and  deliberate  patience.  ' '  They  drew  the 
net  to  shore  and  sat  down,  "as  to  a  work 
requiring  time  and  care ;  and  then  they 
1 '  gathered  the  good  into  vessels  and  cast 
the  bad  away." 

The  camera  habit  is  upon  us  and  in  our 
busv,  hurried  life  we  do  snap-shot  work. 
We  take  snap  judgments  of  men,  of  meas- 
ures, of  institutions.  You  know  the  differ- 
ence between  a  photograph  and  a  painted 
portrait  ?  The  photograph  shows  the  indi- 
vidual from  one  point  of  view,  just  as  he 
was  at  that  moment,  a  single  passing  ex- 
pression. The  well- painted  portrait  shows 
him  from  many  points  of  view,  shows  var- 
ious moods  and  expressions,  all  cast  into  a 
composite  picture.  Portraits  and  not  snap 
shots  are  demanded  if  we  would  rightly 
judge  men,  or  measures  for  the  public  good, 
or  institutions  that  stand  about  us.  There 
must  come  the  process  of  patient,  careful 
discrimination,  gathering  the  good  into  our 
appreciation  and  judiciously  casting  the 
bad  away. 

The  news  stands  and  book  stores  are  al- 
most screaming  at  us  now  to  read  Marie 
Corelli's  last  book.  I  have  never  admired 


14  THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVII, 

this  woman's  work  but  she  furnishes  liter- 
ary provender  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
readers  and  is  one  of  the  modern  forces  to 
be  reckoned  with.  Her  last  effort,  ''The 
Master  Christian  ' '  has  more  of  seriousness 
and  purpose  than  any  of  the  preceding. 
The  story  is  heavy  with  tons  of  crude  theo- 
logical discussion  and  raw  sermonic  dis- 
quisitions. The  outcome  is  a  total  con- 
demnation of  the  church  and  of  modern 
Christianity.  She  claims  that  the  church 
has  rejected  Christ,  and  were  he  to  come 
again,  his  church  followers  would  be  de- 
nounced in  more  scathing  terms  than  those 
employed  against  the  Scribes,  Hypocrites 
and  Pharisees.  The  book  is  dedicated  ' '  To 
all  the  churches  who  quarrel  in  the  name 
name  of  Christ ' '  and  by  this  she  means  the 
whole  of  them. 

But  the  only  Christianity  she  seems  to 
know  is  the  feeble,  incrusted  Roman  ar- 
ticle in  Papal  lands,  or  the  formal  imitations 
of  it  that  are  so  much  in  evidence  in  some 
other  countries.  The  moral  vigor,  the 
robust  practical  sense,  the  thorough-going 
spirit  of  aspiration  characteristic  of  the  best 
forms  of  Protestant  life  she  either  does  not 
know  or  else  ignores.  She  throws  the 
church  over  on  the  showing  made  by  some 
snap-shots,  which,  if  selected  and  grouped 
with  that  end  in  view,  give  the  effect  of  a 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND   EVIL  15 

caricature  rather  than  of  a  just  portrait. 
There  are  acres  of  outside  people  who  will 
read  her  pages  and  their  apathy  or  opposi- 
tion to  the  church  will  be  increased  by  these 
hasty,  narrow  views. 

There  are  hot-headed  reformers,  too,  who 
might  read  the  wise  counsels  of  this  par- 
able with  profit.  If  they  find  tares  in  a 
certain  field  of  human  interest  or  enjoy- 
ment, they  would  burn  it  up  wheat  and  all 
without  delay.  If  the  church  has  not  seen 
fit  to  identify  itself  with  socialism,  single 
tax,  collectivism,  or  any  other  specific 
economic  program,  or  if  it  has  seemed  to  be 
somewhat  remiss  in  its  opposition  to  greed, 
oppression  and  other  social  wrongs,  it  is 
cast  out  and  denounced  as  the  paid  tool  of 
the  rich,  and  the  foe  of  the  wage  earner. 
If  the  church  refuses  to  adopt  some  definite 
political  policy  as  the  panacea  for  the  evils 
of  intemperance,  it  is  condemned  as  "in 
league  with  the  rum  power,"  as  making 
"a  covenant  with  death  and  hell."  If 
rightminded,  purehearted  people,  having 
the  general  welfare  in  constant  view,  still 
insist  on  prudence  and  deliberation,  and  re- 
fuse to  obey  the  call  of  every  professional 
reformer  who  sets  out  as  a  towncrier  to 
summon  the  citizens  to  his  line  of  action, 
they  are  sometimes  written  down  as  dull 
conservatives  and  opponents  of  progress. 


16  THE  MIXTURE   OF  GOOD  AND  EVII, 

All  along  the  line  there  would  be  a  great 
gain  in  sanity  and  effectiveness  if  there 
could  come  a  general  sitting  down  to  a  time 
of  thoughtfulness  and  discrimination,  that 
the  good  might  be  gathered  in  and  the  bad 
cast  away. 

The  minister  bent  on  strengthening  the 
religious  forces  in  the  community,  finds  a 
practical  obstacle  presented  by  two  classes 
of  people.  In  one,  they  say  they  are  not 
good  enough  to  join  the  church  ;  in  the 
other  they  say  the  church  is  not  good 
enough.  In  the  lives  of  the  first  there  may 
be  no  glaring  inconsistencies  of  conduct 
that  ought  to  keep  them  out  of  the  house- 
hold of  the  Father.  Finished  perfection  of 
character  is  not  a  requisite  for  admission. 
The  church  is  not  a  county  fair  or  cattle 
show  where  we  take  only  the  biggest 
Christians  we  have  raised  and  put  them  up 
for  exhibition  :  nor  is  it  the  race  track  where 
we  bring  out  only  our  blooded  stock,  spirit- 
ually speaking,  to  put  them  through  their 
paces  for  the  admiration  of  the  multitude. 

The  church  is  an  educational  institution, 
a  school  of  righteousness.  Children  are 
wise  enough  to  go  to  school  not  when  they 
know  it  all  but  when  they  are  ready  to  learn 
and  have  the  teachable  spirit  People  are 
good  enough  to  join  the  church,  when  they 
are  ready  to  cast  evil  behind  them,  to  put 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND   EVIL  I? 

their  trust  in  the  Saviour  of  men,  and  to  go 
to  school  to  Him,  until  they  learn  to  live 
according  to  His  spirit  and  method. 

The  people  in  the  other  class  to  whom 
the  church  is  not  good  enough,  have  fixed 
their  eyes  on  a  few  tares  in  the  field  and  by 
staring  intently  at  these,  have  fallen  into  a 
sort  of  self-hypnotism.  Their  particular 
absorption  has  blinded  them  to  the  wide 
acres  of  wheat.  There  are  people  in  every 
community  who  can  see  a  fly  on  a  barn  door 
without  seeing  the  barn  door.  Thus  they 
reject  the  comfort,  the  opportunity  for  use- 
fulness, the  joy  of  fellowship,  the  inspira- 
tion of  corporate  eflort,  which  the  church 
affords  and  which  has  meant  so  much  for 
the  world's  moral  advancement,  because  of 
the  few  faults  they  have  managed  to  snap 
with  their  pocket  cameras.  They  have  not 
learned  the  wise  patience  and  largeminded- 
ness  of  Christ  in  his  attitude  toward  the 
forces  that  composed  the  ever  advancing 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  role  of  the  critic  where  it  means 
faultfinding  uncoupled  with  cordial  appre- 
ciation, is  not  a  difficult  one.  It  demands 
no  great  amount  of  brain  power.  The 
smallest  of  children's  sizes  of  heart  and 
head  will  amply  suffice.  There  are  mud- 
holes  in  Yosemite  Valley.  Tourists  now 
and  then  stir  up  one  of  those  unsavory  little 


l8  THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVII, 


animals  known  as  skunks.  It  would  be  a 
small  nature  however  that  would  occupy 
itself  with  these  petty  annoyances  and 
ignore  the  majestic  features  of  the  Valley. 
It  is  a  small  nature  that  occupies  itself  with 
a  knot-hole  it  found  once  in  the  character  of 
a  deacon,  and  fails  to  see  what  the  church 
has  done  and  is  doing  in  moral  instruction, 
in  calling  people  to  reasonable  worship,  in 
establishing  them  in  helpful  fellowship,  in 
organizing  and  directing  their  efforts  in 
worldwide  benevolence,  in  bringing  com- 
fort, peace  and  uplift  to  burdened  hearts  all 
through  the  Christian  world  ! 

"Blessed  is  the  man  that  sitteth  not  in 
the  seat  of  the  scornful.'*  It  is  a  low, 
broad,  easily  accessible  seat.  The  habitu- 
ally critical  mind  bent  on  seeing  deficiencies 
can  easily  vault  into  it  and  hold  it  in  the 
face  of  the  world' s  best  endeavorers.  Young 
people  in  their  natural  passion  for  high 
ideals  and  for  the  absolute,  sometimes  fall 
into  the  way  of  sitting  in  it.  It  arrests 
growth  and  means  shrinkage  in  the  life  of 
the  spirit.  Older  people  wearing  the  petu- 
lant mood  as  a  garment  sometimes  choose 
it  and  "sit  the  gray  remainder  of  their 
evening  out."  It  proves  a  hard,  bare, 
mean  seat.  Blessed  is  the  man  who  avoids 
the  narrowness  of  view  that  might  land  him 
in  the  seat  of  the  scornful. 


THE  MIXTURE  OF  GOOD  AND  EVIL      19 

In  solemn  warning  Christ  indicated  a  time 
when  a  complete  separation  of  the  evil  and 
the  good  would  be  accomplished.  The 
final  division  would  be  made  "  by  angels,' ' 
by  superhuman  agencies.  The  absolute 
ideal  is  not  for  us  to  gain  in  our  present 
state  of  development.  The  main  lessons 
are,  the  inevitable  mingling  of  varied  quali- 
ties in  those  agencies  that  make  for  better- 
ment ;  the  ineradicable  distinction  between 
good  and  evil ;  the  utter  abhorrence  of  evil 
in  one's  own  heart  or  in  the  world,  unmodi- 
fied by  any  kind  of  complacency  toward  its 
hated  presence  ;  the  necessity  for  wise  and 
discriminating  patience  in  eliminating  the 
evil  without  imperiling  the  life  of  the 
organism  on  which  it  has  fastened ;  the 
habit  of  cordial  appreciation  which  con- 
stantly gathers  in  the  good,  and  gives  that 
healthy  optimism  which  serves  as  a  fore- 
runner of  victory.  With  these  just 
principles  in  mind,  we  may  hold  fast  to  the 
lofty  idealism  of  Christ  and  work  steadily 
and  practically  for  that  perfect  world  that 
is  to  be. 


The  Message  of  Religion 

to 
the  Men  of  Our  Day 


BY 

REV.  CHAS.  R.  BROWN 


1902 

BAKER   PRINTING   CO. 
OAKLAND.   CAL. 


*THE    MESSAGE    OF    RELIGION 
TO  THE  MEN  OF  OUR  DAY 

"After  the   death   of  Moses,    the   Lord  spake 
unto  Joshua."— Josh,  i;  i. 

|HERE  is  a  world  of  meaning  wrapped 
up  in  those  ten  short  words.  You 
may  say  that  the  real  history  of  the 
Hebrew  race  began  with  its  deliv- 
erance from  Egypt  under  the  leadership  of 
Moses.  There  are  interesting  stories  stretching 
further  back  but  they  are  stories  of  individuals 
rather  than  of  a  race.  The  Hebrew  nation 
had  its  birthday  on  that  memorable  night 
when  the  Lord  in  his  mercy  "passed  over  " 
them,  and  when  they  in  turn  "  passed  over  " 
the  Red  Sea.  Their  feast  of  the  Passover 
down  to  the  present  hour  is  a  celebration  of 
those  incidents  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of 
their  political  and  religious  development. 
And  the  leading  figure  in  that  whole  period  of 
their  history  was  this  same  Moses. 

He  had  the  qualities  that  belong  to  effective 
leadership.      He   stirred   a   race   of  helpless 

*This  sermon  was  first  preached  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  Oakland.  It  was  afterward  given  in  this  modified 
form  at  Berkeley  as  the  Baccalaureate  Sermon  before  the  Grad- 
uating Class  of  1902  in  the  University  of  California  ;  and  also 
at  the  Anniversary  of  the  Christian  Associations  during  Com- 
mencement Week  at  Stanford  University. 


THE   MESSAGE  OF  RELIGION 


slaves  until  they  were  ready  to  act.  He  con- 
fronted and  successfully  resisted  their  oppres- 
sors. He  led  the  fugitives  across  the  sea  into 
the  wilderness.  He  conducted  them  in  all 
their  wanderings,  finding  manna  by  the  way 
and  water  in  the  rocks.  He  climbed  the 
death-fence  at  the  foot  of  Sinai  and  from  the 
top  of  the  Mount  gained  a  vision  of  God,  as 
it  were  face  to  face.  He  brought  down  out  of 
that  experience  the  laws  that  were  to  lie  at 
the  foundation  of  Hebrew  growth  and  useful- 
ness. He  led  the  people  on  to  the  river 
Jordan  and  showed  them  the  land  of  promise 
just  within  their  reach.  And  then  just  there 
he  died. 

It  seemed  a  loss  irreparable.  We  wonder 
how  his  place  could  be  filled  and  how  the 
work  could  go  on  without  him.  But  the 
author  of  the  text  treats  the  event  calmly, — 
( l  after  the  death  of  Moses,  the  L,ord  spake 
unto  Joshua." 

The  workers  change — they  come  and  go  in 
shifts — the  work  goes  on.  Moses,  and  then 
after  he  is  gone,  Joshua  ;  David  the  king  and 
then  Isaiah  the  prophet ;  John  the  beloved 
disciple  of  the  inner  life  and  Paul  the  sturdy 
apostle  of  missionary  activity  ;  Luther  and 
then  Calvin ;  Jonathan  Edwards  and  then 
Henry  Ward  Beecher — so  they  come  and  so 
they  go.  Bach  man  the  servant  of  an  eternal 
purpose  ;  each  man  doing  his  stint  and  then 


TO  THE  MEN  OF   OUR  DAY 


sinking  back  into  the  rest  that  remains  for 
the  people  of  God.  And  into  every  place  left 
vacant,  a  new  man  called  ! 

But  it  is  not  only  another  man  but  a  differ- 
ent type  of  man  who  is  called  into  the  field. 
The  text  brings  out  a  bold  contrast.  Moses 
was  a  man  of  peace,  the  meekest  of  men.  We 
never  find  him  with  a  sword  in  his  hand.  He 
was  busy  with  the  laws,  the  ceremonies,  the 
institutions  that  were  to  educate  an  illiterate 
race  in  rightousness  and  holiness.  He  was  a 
man  of  spiritual  vision.  He  saw  the  presence 
of  God  in  a  burning  bush  and  put  the  shoes 
off  his  feet  for  the  place  was  holy  ground. 
He  saw  the  presence  of  God  in  a  thunder 
storm  at  the  top  of  Sinai,  and  came  out  of  the 
experience  with  his  face  shining  from  the 
glory  he  had  seen.  He  saw  the  finger  of  God 
in  the  writing  of  those  moral  laws  that  belong 
to  any  nation's  wellbeing.  Along  these  lines 
of  effort  Moses  found  the  presence  of  God  and 
became  the  useful  servant  of  His  will. 

But  after  this  work  was  under  way,  after 
the  death  of  Moses,  the  L,ord  spoke  unto 
Joshua.  Work  of  another  sort  was  now  to  be 
undertaken.  Jericho  had  to  be  captured.  A 
licentious  and  idolatrous  people  was  to  be 
subdued.  A  footing  for  the  Israelites  was  to 
be  gained  in  the  land  given  to  their  fathers. 
The  conquered  territory  was  to  be  divided  up 
and  assigned  to  the  twelve  tribes.  Ability  of 


THE  MESSAGE  OF   RELIGION 


another  kind  was  in  demand ;  soldierly 
courage  and  administrative  force  were  called 
for.  So  when  Joshua  had  his  vision  of  the 
Divine  Presence  it  came  in  these  terms.  He 
was  standing  outside  the  walls  of  Jericho 
when  "behold  there  stood  over  against  him  a 
man  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand."  Upon 
inquiry  this  mysterious  figure  proclaimed  him- 
self "  The  Captain  ot  the  Host  of  the  Lord. " 
And  this  place  where  Joshua  stood  face  to 
face  with  the  military  necessities  of  the  situa- 
tion and  face  to  face  with  the  offer  of  divine 
aid  in  meeting  those  necessities,  was  to  him 
holy  ground  and  he  too  put  the  shoes  off  his 
feet.  It  was  anotner  vision  of  the  same  God 
in  terms  that  belonged  to  a  different  form  of 
service. 

So  it  is  always — after  the  death  of  Moses 
the  Lord  speaks  unto  Joshua.  The  text  gives 
us  a  picture  of  the  constant  changes  that  have 
been  taking  place  and  are  taking  place  now 
in  that  work  which  the  Lord  of  all  the  values 
there  are,  steadily  carries  forward.  Many  a 
Moses  and  many  a  method  has  done  its 
appointed  task  and  passed  away  ;  then  the 
Lord  has  called  a  different  type  of  man  and 
another  sort  of  method  into  the  field.  These 
changes  bring  not  dismay  but  inspira- 
tion to  the  children  of  the  kingdom.  They 
indicate  that  we  are  the  children  of  the  living 
God.  And  so  in  view  of  the  changes 


TO  THE  MEN  OF  OUR   DAY 


that  are  taking  place  in  the  aspects  of  religious 
work,  I  want  to  ask  what  are  some  of  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  message  religion 
has  for  the  men  of  our  day. 

/.  There  has  come  a  new  insistence  upon 
intellectual  accuracy  and  intellectual  modesty. 

It  is  part  of  the  scientific  habit  of  mind 
which  does  not  lump  things  but  weighs, 
measures,  analyzes  them.  While  in  religion 
we  are  confessedly  dealing  with  subjects  too 
vast  for  complete  comprehension  or  final 
statement,  there  is  an  insistence  that  as  far  as 
we  go  there  be  accuracy.  In  the  use  of  scrip- 
ture the  day  has  gone  when  men  try  to  settle 
the  question  of  probation  after  death  by  such 
texts  as  that  from  Kcclesiastes, — ' '  where  the 
tree  falleth  there  it  shall  lie. "  The  statement 
about  the  tree  is  entirely  true  but  it  has  no 
more  bearing  on  the  question  of  probation 
after  death  than  that  other  equally  true  state- 
ment that  two  times  two  are  four.  Important 
New  Testament  doctrines  are  not  now  being 
artificially  bolstered  up  by  the  unscholarly  and 
unfair  use  of  Old  Testament  texts  pulled  out 
of  their  connection  and  bent  out  of  their  true 
shape.  No  biblical  scholar  could  hold  up  his 
head  and  look  the  world  in  the  face  if  he  tried 
now  to  make  those  warm  and  rosy  love  pas- 
sages in  the  Song  of  Solomon  represent  in  some 
allegorical  fashion  the  love  of  Christ  for  his 
church.  That  whole  method  of  compelling 


8  THE  MESSAGE  OF  RELIGION 

scripture  to  mean  anything  and  everything 
which  might  make  for  our  side  is  being 
abandoned  as  inaccurate  and  intellectually 
dishonest.  All  straining  and  twisting  of  texts 
is  an  abomination  to  the  L,ord  !  "  Interpret 
the  Bible  like  any  other  book,"  was  Jowett's 
dictum.  It  shocked  the  men  of  that  day  but 
it  is  now  a  commonplace  of  biblical  scholar- 
ship. The  sole  question  is,  What  do  these 
statements  mean,  coming  as  they  do  from  a 
certain  man,  out  of  a  certain  environment, 
addressed  to  a  certain  set  of  needs.  There  is 
a  thoroughgoing  insistence  upon  intellectual 
accuracy.  And  nothing  less  than  that  could 
be  pleasing  to  Him  who  said,  "  I  am  the  truth. 
And  ye  shall  know  the  truth.  And  the  truth 
shall  make  you  free. " 

And  a  new  intellectual  modesty  has  also 
come  in .  Men  are  not  now  making  loud  affirm  - 
ations  as  to  what  took  place  "in  the  Council 
Chamber  of  the  Trinity "  when  Father  and 
Son  made  certain  agreements  touching  the 
effects  of  the  sacrificial  death  of  Christ.  The 
teachers  of  religion  are  not  now  mapping  out 
the  future  world  with  detailed  statements  as 
to  its  heaven  and  hell,  nor  giving  expert 
estimates  as  to  the  probable  population  of 
each  when  the  rolls  are  all  made  up.  One 
great  Protestant  Church  many  years  ago 
made  bold  to  say  that  God  by  his  eternal  de- 
crees had  determined  beforehand  those  who 


TO  THE  MEN  OF  OUR   DAY 


should  be  saved  and  those  who  should  be  lost 
and  that  nothing  men  could  do  would  in  any 
wise  change  the  result  of  those  decrees.  And 
now  the  wisest  men  of  that  denomination  are 
wishing  with  all  their  hearts  that  there  was 
some  way  of  quietly  shelving  those  statements 
to  which  they  can  no  longer  heartily  subscribe. 
The  over-confident  assertions  of  other  days 
have  given  place  to  the  more  careful  and 
modest  affirmations  that  the  voice  of  religion 
is  now  making. 

This  fact  brings  a  sense  of  discouragement 
to  some  earnest  people.  They  call  our  time 
an  "  infidel  and  unbelieving  time  "  and  speak 
fondly  of  ''the  ages  of  faith."  It  does  not 
seem  that  way  to  me.  Our  age  is  less  credulous 
than  some  other  ages  have  been.  A  shout  of 
laughter  would  go  up  if  some  Oakland 
citizen  claimed  that  his  children  were  sick 
and  his  cow  was  giving  bloody  milk  because 
a  hostile  neighbor  had  "bewitched"  them. 
Yet  it  is  only  a  little  over  a  hundred  years 
since  the  last  "  witch  "  was  put  to  death  by 
civil  process.  That  day,  thank  God,  has  gone 
but  after  the  death  of  such  credulity,  the 
Lord  has  spoken  to  the  intellectual  mood  and 
habit  of  our  own  age.  Was  there  ever  a  time 
when  so  many  men  were  sure  of  God,  sure  of 
a  wise,  powerful,  beneficent  Being  who  is  the 
ground  and  source  of  all  finite  being  ?  There 
certainly  never  was  a  time  when  so  many  men 


10  THE   MESSAGE  OF   REUGION 

of  all  races  and  tongues  looked  up  into  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ  and  saw  there  the  face  of 
the  Eternal,  their  Master,  Saviour,  Lord  ! 
There  never  was  a  time  when  so  many 
serious-minded  people,  discarding  perhaps 
some  of  the  magic  which  became  entangled 
with  the  idea  of  prayer,  firmly  believed  that 
prayer  is  to  sweeten  the  world  by  its  fragrance 
and  change  the  lives  of  men  by  its  moral 
force  !  There  was  never  a  time  when  so 
many  believed  that  in  this  body  of  literature 
called  the  Bible  there  lies  embedded  a  genuine 
message  from  God  to  men  not  inerrant  in  all 
its  scientific  and  historical  statements  but 
abundantly  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  sal- 
vation and  to  furnish  us  thoroughly  for  every 
good  work !  There  never  was  a  time  when 
so  many  looked  forward  with  serene  trust  to  a 
future  life,  not  mapped  out  but  remaining 
still  an  ' '  undiscovered  country  "  as  it  must 
remain  for  earthly  experience,  yet  brought 
upon  the  map  and  within  the  moral  confidence 
by  the  life  and  teaching,  the  death  and  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  Christ !  This  insistence  upon 
intellectual  accuracy  and  intellectual  modesty 
may  have  reduced  the  number  of  points 
on  which  religious  people  stand  ready  to  make 
positive  affirmation  but  it  has  increased  the 
number  who  can  join  in  the  affirmation  and 
increased  the  reality  and  strength  of  it  ten 
fold. 


TO  THE  MEN   OF   OUR  DAV  it 

//.  There  has  been  a  change  of  emphasis 
in  the  method  by  which  salvation  is  accom- 
plished. 

Salvation  means  moral  recovery  from  all 
that  hurts  and  hinders  our  growth  into  the 
likeness  and  image  of  the  Father.  The 
changed  emphasis  in  this  work  may  be 
roughly  indicated  by  the  use  of  two  words, 
"crisis"  and  "process."  They  are  not 
suggested  as  mutually  exclusive  for  in  all 
times  the  elements  of  each  have  blended  with 
the  other,  but  they  indicate  how  the  point  of 
view  has  shifted. 

The  sacramental  idea  of  religion  made 
much  of  the  crisis.  The  unbaptized  soul  is 
unregenerate  but  the  moment  the  holy  water 
in  the  hands  of  an  officiating  priest  falls  upon 
the  head  of  babe  or  believing  adult,  he  passes 
from  an  unsaved  to  a  saved  condition.  The 
dogmatic  view  affirms  that  the  hearty 
assent  to  certain  theological  propositions 
works  the  same  change  in  one's  standing  be- 
fore God.  If  the  unbelieving  soul  can  be 
brought  even  upon  his  death-bed  to  murmur 
an  assent  to  certain  vital  truths,  it  may  affect 
his  whole  future  destiny.  The  emotional  type 
of  religion  makes  much  of  crisis — until  there 
has  come  in  the  the  emotional  nature  of  the 
man  an  overturning  and  overwhelming  crisis, 
he  is  without  the  benefits  of  religion.  In  all 
these  the  emphasis  has  been  strongly  upon 


12  THE   MESSAGE  OF   RELIGION 

the  crisis  in  the  moral  history  rather  than 
upon  the  process. 

You  may  say  that  all  this  is  otherwise  to- 
day. Baptism  is  administered  as  a  useful  and 
appropriate  sign  of  a  spiritual  process,  the 
cleansing  of  the  inner  life  by  the  ministry  of 
God's  truth  and  grace.  The  apprehension 
and  acceptance  of  certain  doctrinal  statements 
is  valuable  but  only  as  it  induces  a  certain 
movement  of  the  will  and  leads  to  certain 
habits  of  action.  And  emotional  experiences 
depending  as  they  do  upon  individual  tem- 
perament, training,  the  quality  and  amount  of 
stimulus  given  in  the  service  that  seeks  to 
produce  them,  find  whatever  significance  they 
possess  only  in  the  moral  attitude  that  results 
and  the  new  lines  of  moral  effort  to  which  they 
introduce  the  soul.  In  every  case  the  atten- 
tion is  directed  to  the  process  rather  than  to 
the  crisis  which  may  have  some  small  place 
within  it. 

In  a  word  religious  experience  is  being 
phrased  to-day  not  in  terms  of  crisis  taken 
from  some  special  texts  of  scripture  but  in  the 
terms  of  domestic  life,  a  Father  bringing  up 
and  bringing  out  his  children  into  conscious, 
obedient,  joyous  fellowship  with  himself.  It 
is  being  phrased  in  the  terms  of  education, 
the  Master  educating,  leading  out  his  disciples 
or  learners,  into  selfrealization  through  the 
self  expression  of  worship  and  service.  The 


TO  THE  MEN   OF  OUR   DAY  13 


appointments  of  the  church,  the  spiritual 
psedogogy  of  the  Sunday  School  and  nine 
tenths  of  all  the  good  religious  reading  pro- 
ceed upon  the  principle  that  salvation  is  a 
moral  process  conducted  by  the  spirit  of  God 
in  the  heart  of  the  man. 

This  emphasis  matches  the  mood  and 
method  of  those  who  engage  in  scientific  or 
historical  or  literary  study.  It  helps  to  organ- 
ize religion  with  the  other  forces  that  are 
moulding  the  life  of  the  world.  It  need  not 
and  must  not  obscure  the  fact  that  salvation 
involves  the  conscious,  definite  surrender  of 
the  will  to  God  and  the  establishment  of  filial 
relations  with  Him  in  His  kingdom.  But  in 
placing  the  emphasis  upon  process  rather 
than  upon  crisis  it  gives  sacredness  and  sig- 
nificance not  alone  to  the  sacramental  or 
emotional  moments  in  the  man's  moral 
history,  but  to  all  that  comes  within  the  range 
of  his  interest.  It  makes  it  possible  for  a 
man  to  feel  that  whether  he  eats  or  drinks,  or 
buys  and  sells,  or  teaches  and  learns,  or  prays 
and  sings,  he  may  be  doing  all  to  the  glory  of 
God  and  giving  all  these  activities  a  holy 
place  in  that  process  of  salvation  which  is  be- 
ing worked  out  within  him  by  the  resident 
energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

///.  There  has  come  a  change  in  the  form 
of  the  motive. 

Once  the  prominent  motive  was  safety,  now 


14  THE  MESSAGE  OF  REWGION 

it  is  usefulness.  The  rescue  idea  is  not  being 
largely  worked  in  religious  effort  for  it  has 
lost  its  power  of  appeal.  The  cry  "  Repent 
and  believe  or  you  will  go  to  hell,"  does  not 
find  men  where  they  live  as  it  once  did.  The 
offer  of  blessed  immortality  or  any  other 
personal  advantage  to  those  who  measure  up 
to  a  certain  standard  in  their  righteous  attain- 
ments, is  not  the  moving  offer  it  has  been. 
The  motive  that  springs  from  the  joy  of  use- 
fulness is  more  in  harmony  with  the  mood  of 
our  day;  it  has  more  gunpowder  behind  it 
than  the  motive  that  springs  from  the  desire 
for  personal  security.  And  it  is  more  in  line 
with  the  method  of  Him  who  said,  "  He  that 
saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth 
his  life  in  my  service  shall  save  it. "  The 
main  attraction  in  the  offer  of  salvation  is  the 
guarantee  it  brings  of  an  enlarged  usefulness 
in  building  up  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 
The  gain  of  this  habit  is  seen  on  every  side. 
Those  ages  of  faith,  as  they  are  fondly  called 
— what  were  they  doing  with  their  mighty 
confidence  ?  They  put  forth  huge  creeds, 
which  stand  to  this  hour  for  the  dismay 
and  embarrassment  of  more  critical  minds, 
but  the  hard  fact  stands  that  the  faith  that 
wrote  the  confessions  was  not  busy  on 
foreign  mission  fields,  leading  the  ignorant 
into  the  light,  or  teaching  them  to  treat  disease 
on  a  basis  of  medical  science  rather  than  of 


TO  THE  MEN  OF  OUR   DAY  15 

magic  or  bringing  misguided  souls  into  a 
knowledge  of  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  The  world  had  to  wait  for  our 
restless  questioning  nineteenth  century  to  fur- 
nish the  missionary  impulse  that  has  planted 
the  banner  of  the  Cross  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same.  The  faith 
that  wrote  the  huge  confessions  was  not  busy 
building  hospitals  for  the  poor,  establishing 
homes  for  the  aged  and  orphaned,  planting 
day  nurseries  and  social  settlements  where 
they  would  work  recovery,  laying  the 
foundations  that  are  enabling  the  strong  to 
intelligently  and  effectively  bear  the  burdens 
of  the  weak.  In  those  ages,  men,  women 
and  children  were  dying  like  rats  in  the  un- 
cared  for  portions  of  the  cities  out  of  which 
came  the  great  plagues.  To-day  the  money  and 
the  time,  the  thought  and  the  love  of  Christen- 
dom is  hastening  into  the  darker  places  of 
earth  to  come  no  more  out  until  they  are  all 
made  bright.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them  " — not  by  the  size,  thickness  and  shape 
of  their  creedal  trunk  and  limbs  but  by  their 
fruits — by  what  they  give  off  and  hand  over 
to  feed  and  bless  a  needy  world.  The  change 
of  motive  from  personal  security  to  usefulness 
is  like  a  tree  of  life  planted  in  the  middle  of 
the  street,  bearing  its  twelve  manner  of  fruit 
for  every  season  of  the  year.  Usefulness  not 
safety— there  is  the  ground  of  appeal  !  The 


l6  THE    MESSAGE  OF  RELIGION 

man  of  God  can  serve  his  generation  wisely, 
deeply,  permanently,  as  a  godless  man  cannot 
— therefore  Him  and  Him  only  shalt  thou 
serve  ! 

You  remember  Tertullian's  picture.  He 
was  an  orthodox  church  father  and  in  a  glow- 
ing sermon  he  pictured  the  bliss  of  the  re- 
deemed. In  the  cool  of  the  evening  they 
walked  out  along  the  battlements  of  the 
eternal  city.  They  looked  over  and  there 
were  the  lost  souls  enduring  the  torments  of 
the  under  world  !  As  the  devils  prodded  the 
poor  unfortunates  and  the  flames  leaped  about 
them  in  angry  heat,  the  redeemed  souls  real- 
ized afresh  the  joy  of  their  personal  security 
and  the  awful  fate  from  which  they  had  been 
saved  !  And  this  moved  them  to  burst  forth 
with  new  songs  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  to 
God! 

Does  that  appeal  to  you  ?  Does  it  stir  one 
single  atom  of  Christian  impulse  in  any  heart 
here  ?  Judged  by  the  prevailing  attitude  of 
our  day  does  it  not  look  altogether  in  the 
wrong  direction  ?  What  would  be  the  first  im- 
pulse of  a  company  of  genuine  Christians 
standing  in  that  situation  now  ?  Surely  this, 
'  *  Cannot  we  do  something  for  the  relief  and 
recovery  of  those  poor  fellows  ?  If  it  lies 
within  the  power  of  God  or  of  man,  may  we 
not  organize  a  rescue  party  to  go  upon  that 
mission — perilous  it  may  be, — well  and  good 


TO  THE  MEN   OF   OUR   DAY  17 

but  let  us  seek  to  recover  those  unfortunates 
from  their  pain."  Nothing  less  than  that 
would  find  the  conscience  or  stir  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  honest-hearted  men  and  women  of 
our  day.  Usefulness  is  more  to  them  than 
personal  security.  In  usefulness  they  find 
their  salvation ;  in  usefulness  they  are  to 
realize  their  heaven  ;  and  so  up  out  of  the 
riches  of  usefulness  which  Christian  character 
makes  possible,  comes  the  appeal  that  enlists 
the  active  eager  lives  under  the  banner  of  the 
Cross ! 

IV.  There  is  a  new  sense  of  breadth  in  the 
undertakings  of  religion. 

In  other  days  the  aim  seems  to  have  been 
to  recover  out  of  a  lost  world  as  much  as 
might  be.  Brands  snatched  from  the  burn- 
ing ;  rescued  souls  from  the  sinking  ship  ; 
handfuls  of  meal  taken  aside  to  receive  the 
leaven  ;  groups  of  people  gathered  out  of  the 
world  into  the  church  ;  favored  nations  made 
wise  and  good  while  the  huge  pagan  popula- 
tions across  the  sea  lay  in  darkness  and  sin — 
these  familiar  expressions  indicate  something 
as  to  the  reach  of  the  current  ambition.  But 
now  the  undertaking  is  greater.  Men  are 
saying,  "We  must  put  out  the  fire  of  de- 
structive evil.  We  must  make  the  ship  that 
holds  our  human  interests  seaworthy  and 
learn  to  sail  it  on  all  seas.  We  must  put  the 
leaven  not  into  a  few  chosen  handfuls  of  meal 


l8  THE  MESSAGE  OF  RBWGION 

but  boldly  down  into  the  whole  mass  of  in- 
dustrial, political,  educational,  social  and 
international  relationships,  to  the  end  that 
the  entire  lump  of  earthly  life  may  be 
leavened."  The  task  is  not  to  get  a  few 
people  out  of  the  world  into  the  church  but 
to  get  the  church  with  all  its  aims  and  ideals, 
its  principles  and  spirit  out  into  the  world,  to 
the  end  that  the  world  may  be  changed  and 
saved. 

We  all  feel  how  inadequate  our  present  Chris- 
tian forces  are  for  this  greater  undertaking 
but  thank  God  for  the  courageous  Joshuas 
who  are  attempting  to  make  "  the  world  the 
subject  of  redemption."  This  big,  burly, 
buzzing,  blooming  confusion  called  "the 
world ' '  is  the  thing  that  God  loved  to  such  a 
degree  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son 
for  its  redemption.  The  field  from  which 
the  harvests  that  alone  can  fill  the  granary 
of  God  are  to  grow  is,  as  Christ  said  ' '  the 
world"  with  all  its  tangled  and  confusing 
problems.  And  nothing  less  than  such  a 
breadth  of  undertaking  will  command  the  in- 
terest or  the  consecration  of  the  people  of  our 
time.  After  the  death  of  the  men  who 
attempted  less  the  Lord  has  spoken  unto  our 
time  that  it  might  attempt  more  ! 

We  have  not  gone  far.  We  have  made  a 
dent  on  the  side  of  China  which  she  scarcely 
feels  as  she  moves  upon  her  stolid  way.  We 


TO  THE  MEN    OF  OUR   DAY  19 

have  done  more  in  Japan  and  still  more  in 
India,  although  there  remaineth  much  land 
to  be  possessed.  But  the  Christian  leaven 
is  there  working,  never  to  be  taken  out 
until  those  kingdoms  are  kingdoms  of  Christ. 
We  have  gone  a  very  little  way  in  establish- 
ing Christian  ideals  in  industry,  in  politics, 
in  society  or  in  education,  but  certain  brave 
men  have  gone  into  those  regions  as  John 
the  Baptists  crying,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand."  They  are  the  forerunners  of 
something  greater.  In  the  presence  of  the 
ideals  they  carry,  all  other  ideals  look  cheap 
and  weak.  Those  higher  ideals  will  remain 
until  they  subdue  all  things  unto  them- 
selves. This  greater  breadth  of  view,  this 
falling  away  of  the  walls  between  the  sacred 
and  the  secular,  making  all  interests  clean, 
this  effort  to  sanctify  the  whole  of  life  by  the 
presence  of  moral  purpose  and  spiritual 
passion,  is  but  the  response  our  time  is  mak- 
ing to  the  call  of  Him  who  said,  "Go  ye  into 
all  the  world;  wash  it,  teach  it,  organize  it  into 
a  permanent  kingdom  and  habitation  of  your 
God." 

V.  There  is  abroad  among  us  a  more  vital 
conception  of  the  relation  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
humanity. 

You  will  see  what  I  mean  if  you  set  side  by 
side  two  well-known  books.  The  first  was 
published  in  1869  just  ten  years  after  Darwin's 


20  THE   MESSAGE   OF   RELIGION 

Origin  oj  Species  appeared  and  before  the  ideas 
it  announced  had  become  fairly  operative. 
Canon  lyiddon  of  the  English  ,  Church  had 
given  at  Oxford  University  a  course  of  lectures 
upon  "  The  Divinity  of  our  Lord  "  and  under 
that  title  they  were  published.  Then  thirty 
years  later,  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon  of  the  Old 
South  Church,  Boston,  published  the  other 
book  called  The  Christ  of  To-day.  The 
contrast  between  the  two  books  is  suggestive  ! 

The  first  emphasizes  the  difference  and  dis- 
tance between  Christ  and  humanity.  It  tells 
us  strongly  that  between  him  and  us  there  is  a 
great  gulf  fixed.  And  the  main  contention 
is,  I  believe,  true.  The  overwhelming  majority 
of  Christian  people  worship  Jesus  Christ,  yet 
they  would  worship  no  man,  not  the  wisest 
nor  the  best.  The  difference  was  there  and  it 
was  well  that  it  be  brought  out. 

But  after  the  death  of  Liddon  the  Lord 
spoke  unto  Gordon.  In  his  book  Christ  is  set 
forth  as  the  Complete  Man,  the  Representative 
Man,  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Head  of  Human- 
ity. This  truth  is  not  unrecognized  in  the 
former  book  but  it  is  made  popular  and  effec- 
tive in  the  later  one.  The  leading  claim  in 
The  Christ  of  To-day  is  in  itself  an  argument 
for  his  divinity  because  such  humanity,  made 
perfectly  in  the  likeness  of  the  Father,  being 
the  express  image  of  His  Person,  is  Divine. 
And  the  more  vital  relation  in  which  it  helps 


TO  THE   MEN   OF   OUR   DAY  21 

to  organize  Christ  with  our  struggling,  suffer- 
ing, sinning  humanity  is  splendidly  helpful. 

Jesus  Christ  the  Head  of  Humanity,  his  re- 
lation to  all  men  that  of  the  vine  to  the  branch 
— how  full  of  moral  stimulus  and  inspiration 
it  becomes  !  The  thoughts  that  I  think  in  my 
head,  the  desires  I  cherish  there,  the  deter- 
minations I  there  form,  how  they  flow  out 
and  down  affecting  powerfully  the  health,  the 
movements,  the  efficiency  of  my  whole  body! 
So  Christ  the  head  of  humanity  through  the 
thoughts  He  thinks,  through  what  He  feels 
and  wills,  becomes  increasingly  a  determining 
force  in  the  life  of-  the  race  to  which  He 
stands  organically  related. 

And  Christ  the  Vine,  men  the  branches  ! 
Out  of  that  Vine  flows  perpetually  into  every 
branch  which  does  not  put  up  the  barrier  of  a 
sinful  will,  the  stream  of  spiritual  vitality 
making  the  branches  alive  with  the  Vine's 
own  life,  making  them  fruitful  with  the 
Vine's  own  fruit !  Oh  that  men  would  open 
their  hearts  to  that  conception  of  Christ,  not 
standing  apart  from  us  in  dogmatic  isolation 
but  organized  with  us !  How  it  would  fill 
every  soul  with  a  new  moral  energy,  with  a 
fresh  hope  for  the  race,  with  a  magnificent 
confidence  that  the  kingdom  of  God  can  be 
established  on  the  earth  because  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  head  of  humanity  ! 

It  is  the  concrete  and  personal  always   that 


22  THE  MESSAGE  OF  RELIGION 

makes  the  potent  appeal  to  the  many.  The 
writers  of  fiction  are  furnishing  three  fourths 
of  the  world's  literary  provender  at  this  time 
we  are  told,  because  they  attempt  to  give 
us  pictures  of  life  rather  than  abstract  dis- 
cussion of  its  values.  And  students  the 
world  over  are  not  going  off  alone  Faust- 
like  to  study  in  dusty  libraries  ;  they 
are  hurrying  to  the  Universities  where 
are  the  living  teachers.  And  thus  the 
mightiest  religious  appeal  comes  from  that 
concrete  and  personal  revelation  of  the 
divine  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  This  wide- 
spread interest  in  and  new  feeling  for  Christ 
is  therefore  built  upon  a  sure  foundation.  It 
fills  every  thoughtful  man  with  hope  for  the 
future.  Grant  that  the  presentation  of  Christ 
in  much  of  the  popular  literature,  in  the 
lighter  studies  of  many  schools,  in  the  ser- 
mons from  many  a  pulpit,  are  inadequate — 
alas,  whose  presentation  of  Him,  the  length 
and  breadth,  the  height  and  depth  of  whose 
love  passeth  knowledge,  is  adequate  !  And 
grant  that  much  of  this  interest  is  superficial. 
Nevertheless  at  least  the  hem  of  His  seamless 
robe  is  there  and  needy  souls  are  blindly  but 
expectantly  putting  forth  that  touch  of  faith 
which  is  for  their  recovery.  It  is  true  that  on 
every  side  the  presence  of  the  spirit  and  power 
of  Christ  in  our  modern  life  to  a  degree  un- 
known before  in  the  history  of  the  world,  is 


TO  THE  MEN  OF  OUR  DAY  23 

bringing  good  tidings  to  the  poor,  binding  up 
the  broken-hearted,  preaching  deliverance  to 
the  moral  captives  and  setting  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised  !  This  day.  oh  men  of  Cali- 
fornia, that  scripture  is  being  fulfilled  in  your 
ears  ! 

I  believe  then  that  religion  was  never  in  a 
position  to  say  so  much  or  to  say  it  so  effect- 
ively as  right  now  in  the  message  it  has  for 
the  generation  to  which  you  as  young  men 
and  young  women  belong.  It  is  for  you  with 
open  mind  and  honest  heart  to  receive  its  mes- 
sage and  help  phrase  it  according  to  the  habits 
of  intellectual  accuracy  that  belong  to  your 
University  training.  It  is  for  you  with  your 
acquaintance  with  the  cosmic  processes  that 
have  made  the  world  as  we  find  it,  to  lend 
your  strength  to  those  processes  of  moral  re- 
covery which  are  to  be  the  salvation  of  man- 
kind. It  is  for  you,  taught  at  the  expense  of 
the  State  for  the  welfare  of  the  State,  to  find 
not  in  personal  security  nor  selfish  advant- 
age but  in  usefulness  the  motives  that  will 
bind  you  to  the  highest  forms  of  effort. 
It  is  for  you  to  live  with  your  windows 
open  on  all  sides  and  in  that  breadth  of 
view  to  see  to  it  that  all  the  human  interests 
are  coming  into  the  kingdom  of  God  to  sit 
down  in  sacred  fellowship  with  all  the  forces 
that  fire  the  hearts  of  men  with  moral  energy 
and  spiritual  aspiration.  It  is  for  you  to  find 


24  THE   MESSAGE  OF  RELIGION 

in  Jesus  Christ  the  One  who  somehow  is  tak- 
ing the  moral  government  of  the  world  upon 
his  shoulder  and  who  is  making  all  things 
new  because  He  is  the  Head  of  Humanity. 

Thank  God  for  all  that  He  said  to  Moses  ! 
Thank  Him  again  that  after  the  death  of 
Moses  He  spoke  unto  Joshua !  And  thank 
Him  yet  again,  that  after  all  he  has  said  to 
the  generations  that  are  gone,  He  still  has  a 
message  for  the  men  of  the  hour  bidding  them 
enter  in  and  possess  a  land  which  the  fathers 
saw  afar  off.  "As  I  was  with  Moses  so  I  will 
be  with  thee.  Be  strong  and  of  a  good  cour- 
age, then  thou  shalt  make  thy  way  prosper- 
ous, then  thou  shalt  have  good  success.  Be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage,  for  the  Lord  thy 
God  is  with  thee  whithersoever  thou  goest. " 


THE  PLACE 

OF 

HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 

IN  THE  WORK  OF 

MORAL   RESTORATION 


"If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee,  go  and 
tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him 
alone;  if  he  hear  thee  thou  hast  gained  thy 
brother." 


|ITH  all  His  lofty  idealism  Jesus 
never  forgot  that  he  was  dealing 
with  flesh  and  blood.  He  saw 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth 
was  to  be  built  out  of  human  beings  not  out 
of  angels.  He  accordingly  took  into  account 
the  various  limitations  that  belong  to  human- 
ity for  he  knew  that  human  nature  can  never 
be  abolished  by  ecclesiastical  decree.  We 
must  take  the  facts  as  they  are  and  if  the 
Christian  life  can  not  grow  in  the  face  ot  those 
facts,  it  is  a  failure. 

In  this  spirit  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples  one 
day,  ' '  It  must  needs  be  that  offences  come. ' ' 
With  moral  freedom  and  our  present  im- 
maturity, offences  are  inevitable.  * '  Alas  for 
the  world  because  of  offences."  But  though 
inevitable  Jesus  had  no  word  of  apology  or 


HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 


excuse  to  offer  for  deliberate  wrong  doing. 
"It  were  better"  He  said  "for  a  man  to 
have  a  millstone  tied  about  his  neck  and  be 
cast  into  the  sea  than  to  cause  a  child  to  go 
wrong."  It  were  better  for  a  man  to  cut  off 
his  right  hand  and  go  through  the  world  left 
handed,  than  to  use  that  right  hand  to  steal 
or  forge  or  write  what  will  injure  others.  It 
were  better  that  a  man  should  cut  off  his  feet 
and  sit  down  the  rest  of  his  days  than  to  use 
his  feet  to  walk  in  unholy  places.  It  were 
better  for  a  woman  to  be  without  beauty,  to 
be  homely  as  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  than  to  use 
her  beauty  to  tempt  a  man  to  evil  or  to  make 
her  personal  adornment  a  temptation  to  dis- 
honesty. It  were  better  everyway  to  pluck 
out,  cut  off  and  cast  away  the  choicest  powers, 
right  hands,  right  eyes  and  right  feet,  and  so 
enter  into  life  maimed,  than  to  use  those 
faculties  for  evil  ends.  Better  undoubtedly,  but 
best  of  all  would  be  the  act  of  consecrating 
all  those  powers  so  that  one  might  enter  into 
life  not  maimed. 

Jesus  uttered  no  complacent  word  regarding 
the  presence  of  evil  but  he  frankly  faced  it  as 
an  inevitable  fact  in  our  present  state  of  de- 
velopment. "Alas  for  the  world  with  its 
many  offences. "  Is  there  a  soul  here  this 
morning  who  has  not  been  misunderstood, 
misrepresented,  wounded,  injured,  hindered 
in  his  growth  and  usefulness  ?  ]Bow  many  of 


AND   MORAL  RESTORATION 


you  have  suffered  in  purse,  in  good  name,  in 
peace  of  mind,  in  moral  influence  because  of 
an  ugly  sneer,  a  shrug  of  the  shoulder,  an  un- 
just statement  put  forth  by  some  one  in 
enmity  !  And  who  among  us  has  not  himself 
spoken  unadvisedly  with  his  lips,  wounded 
others  sometimes  unintentionally  and  some- 
times intentionally,  hurt  and  hindered  where 
he  might  have  helped  ?  In  the  very  face  of 
such  a  condition  the  Christian  life  must  main- 
tain itself.  Therefore  Jesus  offered  us  some 
wholesome  suggestions  which  I  want  to 
notice  this  morning  as  they  bear  on  the  place 
of  human  forgiveness  in  the  work  of  moral 
restoration. 

First  of  all, "If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee 
go  and  tell  him  his  fault."  Jesus  gave  no  en- 
couragement to  that  moral  indifference  which 
accepts  wrong  doing  and  right  doing  all  in  the 
same  spirit.  There  are  moral  milksops  who 
scarcely  make  a  distinction  between  gamblers, 
pimps,  scamps  or  liars  and  upright  people. 
They  boast  of  it  that  they  never  say  a  word 
against  any  one,  foolishly  fancying  that  this  is 
a  sign  of  breadth  and  charity.  It  is  more 
commonly  a  sign  of  moral  laziness  or  an  en- 
tire lack  of  vertebrae.  ( 'If  thy  brother  sin 
against  thee  go  tell  him  his  fault,"  bearing 
your  testimony  to  the  wrong.  To  entirely 
disregard  it  or  to  keep  out  of  his  way  in  proud 
superciliousness  is  a  wrong  course  for  him  and. 


HUMAN  FORGIVENESS 


for  you.  Jesus  counselled,  not  moral  softness 
nor  haughty  indifference  but  thoughtful  con- 
cern for  the  man  who  had  done  the  wrong. 
"  Go  tell  him  his  fault." 

You  notice  that  not  upon  the  one  who  did 
the  wrong,  but  upon  him  who  suffered  the 
wrong,  lay  the  obligation  to  take  the  initia- 
tive. You  are  not  to  wait  for  the  offender  to 
come  and  apologize  to  you.  He  may  never 
come.  He  may  be  so  morally  blunt  and  dull 
that  he  fails  to  appreciate  the  gravity  of  his 
wrong-doing.  You  are  not  to  stand  off  in 
haughty  dignity — dignity  is  often  merely  a 
big  name  to  denote  our  unwillingness  to  bend 
ourselves  to  the  plain  task  before  us  —  but 
go  to  him  personally  and  "tell  him  his 
fault."  The  one  who  is  sinned  against  is,  in 
that  transaction ,  on  higher  ground  ethically 
than  the  one  who  committed  the  sin,  there- 
fore upon  him  rests  the  obligation  of  taking 
the  first  step  toward  setting  matters  right. 

You  have  heard  people  say,  "  if  the  offen- 
der will  repent  of  his  wrong,  and  come  to  ask 
my  forgiveness,  I  will  forgive  him  ;  otherwise 
not.  I  pray  to  God,  *  forgive  me  my  tres- 
passes as  I  forgive  those  that  trespass  against 
me,'  and  I  am  ready  to  do  as  God  does. 
When  the  offender  repents  and  comes  to  me 
I  will  forgive  him."  But  is  that  the  way 
God  does  ?  While  we  were  yet  in  our  sins, 
did  He  not  send  His  only  begotten  Son? 


AND   MORAI/NRESTORATION 


While  we  were  yet  sinners  did  not  Christ  die 
for  us  ?  While  we  were  yet  a  great  way  off, 
our  confession  still  unuttered,  did  not  the 
Father  run  to  meet  us,  urging  upon  us  His 
offer  of  forgiveness  ?  Until  a  man  who  has 
been  wronged  can  enter  into  the  redemptive 
spirit  of  the  Father  toward  His  sinful  chil- 
dren, let  him  never  say,  "  I  will  do  as  God 
does. "  The  Heavenly  Father  made  the  ad- 
vances toward  a  rebellious,  offending,  sinful 
world  in  the  person  of  Christ,  therefore,  as  a 
follower  of  Christ  when  your  brother  sins 
against  you,  "go  and  tell  him  his  fault." 

But  in  the  second  place,  ' '  Go  and  tell  him 
his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone"  The 
more  common  way  is  not  to  tell  him  at  all  but 
to  tell  the  boarding  house  or  the  group  of 
men  on  the  boat,  or  all  the  neighbors,  or  it  may 
be,  to  write  a  letter  to  the  newspaper  signed 
"Amicus."  What  a  world  of  bitterness, 
misunderstanding,  estrangement,  sorrow 
would  have  been  avoided  had  this  simple 
counsel  of  Christ  been  observed  !  ' '  Go  tell 
him  nis  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone ' ' — 
there  face  to  face,  the  one  who  did  the  wrong 
and  the  one  who  suffered  it,  the  latter  not 
trying  to  injure  the  other  in  the  estimation  of 
men  but  seeking  to  set  the  matter  right, 
what  a  hopeful  situation  !  Verily  I  say  unto 
you  where  two  men  are  gathered  together  in 


HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 


that  spirit,  there  is  Jesus  Christ  in  the  midst 
of  them. 

Every  man  who  speaks  habitually  in  pub- 
lic recognizes  the  value  of  this  counsel.  He 
speaks  to  people  of  perfect  hearing  and  to 
those  of  imperfect  hearing  who  get  snatches 
and  half  sentences  of  his  utterances.  He 
speaks  to  those  who  are  in  normal  condition 
and  to  those  who  at  certain  points  are  as  sore 
and  sensitive  as  boils.  He  speaks  to  those 
who  hear  him  often  and  judge  each  sentence 
by  ten  thousand  other  sentences  they  have 
heard  him  speak,  and  to  those  who  hear  him 
but  once  and  remember  but  a  single  state- 
ment. Alas  for  him  offences  will  come ! 
People  will  go  away  and  say,  "  I  heard  the 
man  make  this  astonishing  statement — now 
what  do  you  think  of  him?"  Some  of  my 
own  sentences  have  come  back  to  me  bent, 
twisted,  colored,  adulterated  beyond  recogni- 
tion. I  was  as  much  surprised  as  though  I 
had  been  informed  that  certain  people  had 
heard  me  claim  from  this  pulpit  that  the 
moon  was  made  of  Swiss  cheese,  or  that  ac- 
cording to  my  judgment  my  greatgrand- 
mother  was  a  monkey.  If  you  have  an  idea 
that  some  public  speaker  has  committed  a 
trespass  in  his  speech,  go  tell  him  his  fault 
between  thee  and  him  alone.  If  it  is  a  fault 
he  ought  to  know  it;  and  if  it  is  a  mistake  he 
will  be  able  to  clear  up  the  misunderstanding. 


AND   MORAI,   RESTORATION 


Two  bright  girls  in  our  Bible  School  last 
Sunday  were  studying  the  lesson  of  Ananias 
and  Sapphira.  They  asked  why  Peter  spoke 
out  before  the  whole  congregation  exposing 
the  guilty  pair  in  their  wilful  lie.  Why  did 
he  not  go  and  talk  to  them,  shewing  them 
their  fault  between  himself  and  them  alone? 
Peter  himself  had  lied  once,  nay  thrice  he 
had  denied  his  I^ord  affirming  that  he  had 
never  known  such  an  one  as  Jesus.  And 
Jesus  hearing  his  lying  oath  did  not  expose 
his  falsity  before  the  assembly  but  turned  and 
looked  upon  him  silently,  pityingly,  until 
Peter  went  out  and  wept  bitterly  over  his 
wrong.  Why  did  not  Peter  do  as  much  for 
Ananias  and  Sapphira,  dealing  with  them 
privately  instead  of  exposing  them  instantly 
to  the  contempt  of  the  church  ? 

Well,  sure  enough,  why  not?  It  never 
occurred  to  me  before  but  I  have  pondered 
it  all  the  week.  The  action  of  Peter  is  re- 
corded but  not  commended  in  the  book  of 
Acts.  It  may  be  that  it  is  recorded  partly  to 
show  us  how  that  impulsive  nature  blurting 
out  the  condemnation,  involved  the  objects  of 
its  disapproval  in  awful  consequences.  Many 
of  Peter's  words  and  actions  are  recorded  by 
way  of  warning  rather  than  as  an  example — 
may  it  not  be  that  this  swift  and  public  con- 
demnation of  another's  fault,  resulting  so  ter- 
ribly, stands  among  the  deeds  that  are  to  warn 


8  HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 

us  all  ?  We  can  not  dogmatize  upon  that 
point.  The  silences  of  the  writer  are  to  be 
respected  as  much  as  his  utterances.  He  re- 
cords the  transaction  with  unusual  reserve, 
leaving  us  to  draw  our  conclusions  and 
gather  its  lessons.  There  is  food  for  medita- 
tion in  the  eager  question  of  the  two  young 
girls.  We  do  know  that  when  Jesus 
faced  great  sinners,  like  Zaccheus,  the  woman 
taken  in  her  crime  and  the  woman  at  Simon's 
house,  he  did  not  expose  their  guilt  publicly, 
but  most  delicately  sought  to  recover  them 
from  their  wrong  to  a  new  life  of  righteous- 
ness. Even  when  his  disciple  Judas  was  plot- 
ting his  death,  He  indicated  to  the  guilty  fel- 
low His  own  knowledge  of  that  action  in 
ways  so  delicate  that  the  eleven  did  not  un- 
derstand His  allusion.  If  we  would  follow 
Christ  therefore,  we  must  go  to  those  who 
wrong  us  and  tell  them  their  faults  between 
ourselves  and  them  alone. 

If  this  should  utterly  fail  and  the  delicate 
approach  be  refused,  Jesus  adds  that  one  or 
two  more  may  be  taken  as  witnesses  or  arbit- 
ers. If  this  also  fails,  in  the  case  of  a  Chris- 
tian believer  the  matter  may  come  before  the 
church.  The  question  of  church  discipline 
however,  I  do  not  enter  upon  to-day ,  for  I  am 
speaking  of  the  individual  obligation  in 
cases  of  offence.  The  first  duty  is  not  to 
pass  the  offence  by  in  moral  carelessness  nor 


AND  MORAI,  RESTORATION 


to  remove  ourselves  from  His  society  in 
haughty  indifference  but  with  brotherly  con- 
cern to  go  and  privately  tell  him  his  fault. 

Then  Jesus  indicated  the  spirit  in  which  the 
approach  was  to  be  made.  "If  he  hear  thee, 
thou  hast  gained  thy  brother."  You  go  not 
to  show  angry  resentment,  not  to  rebuke  or 
humilitate  him  but  to  gain  him.  You  know 
people  who  seem  to  delight  in  showing  their 
resentment.  They  boast  of  being  plain 
spoken.  They  speak  out  hard  rude  words 
with  manifest  delight.  They  seem  to  find  an 
unholy  satisfaction  in  tramping  on  other 
people's  toes.  They  are  eager  to  pay  off 
old  scores  and  in  cases  of  wrong  doing 
to  make  the  rebuke  sting  worse  than  did 
the  original  fault.  If  remonstrance  is  made, 
the  reply  comes  back,  "He  deserved  it." 
But  it  is  not  our  part  to  give  men  their 
deserts*  Deserts  are  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith 
the  I^ord.  Therefore  if  thine  enemy  hunger 
feed  him.  He  does  not  deserve  it  but  such 
treatment  is  better  calculated  to  win  him  and 
destroy  his  enmity  than  is  fighting  him.  And 
our  part  is  to  win  and  recover  men  to 
righteousness.  Go  and  tell  him  his  fault  in 
gentleness,  for  he  may  hear  thee,  then  thou 
wilt  have  gained  thy  brother. 

Do  you  realize  that  the  larger  part  of  the 
work  of  moral  restoration  is  not  done  by  God 
immediately,  but  mediately?  He  works 


10  HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 

through  men  of  like  redemptive  spirit  with 
Himself.  The  word  of  moral  recovery  is  still 
made  flesh  that  it  may  dwell  among  those  who 
need  its  help.  "If  any  man  be  overtaken  in 
a  fault  ye  which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an 
one."  Whosesoever  sins  ye  remit  they  are 
remitted.  What  you  bind  on  earth  is  in  a  fair 
way  to  be  bound  in  heaven  ;  what  you  forgive 
on  earth  has  fairer  opportunity  for  forgiveness 
in  heaven.  This  is  the  very  meaning  of  our 
doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.  The  main 
approach  of  God  in  the  work  of  moral  recovery 
is  through  consecrated  humanity.  The  divine 
favor  is  mediated  through  those  who  having 
received  that  favor  themselves  become  its 
channels,  Human  forgiveness  offered  in  the 
spirit  of  gentleness  becomes  a  preparation  for 
the  acceptance  of  divine  forgiveness.  It  is  an 
earnest  and  token  given  by  the  Father's  chil- 
dren, indicating  what  awaits  the  penitent 
wrong  doer  in  his  approach  to  the  Father 
Himself. 

Some  men  in  early  life  step  aside  from  the 
path  of  purity  and  even  where  it  is  known  are 
afterward  recovered  and  become  decent, 
honorable  men.  But  a  woman,  when  she  has 
once  gone  aside  almost  never  !  This  is  partly 
due  to  the  higher  standard  set  by  society  for 
women — it  is  none  too  high,  but  it  should  be 
matched  by  another  equally  high  for  men.  It 
is  due  in  larger  measure  to  the  human  scorn 


AND   MORAI,  RESTORATION  II 

heaped  so  abundantly  upon  an  erring  woman 
even  by  her  own  sex.  She  is  thus  hardened 
into  brazen  effrontery  until  she  does  not  care. 
She  flings  back  the  world's  scorn  with  added 
bitterness.  There  are  so  few  to  go  and  look 
upon  her  as  Jesus  looked  upon  such  women, 
deploring  their  sin  as  only  perfect  holiness 
could  deplore  it,  but  mercifully  saying,  "Go 
and  sin  no  more.' '  If  some  pure  good  woman 
could  go  to  each  offender  and  tell  her  the  fault 
between  the  two  of  them  alone,  and  then 
speak  words  of  counsel  and  hope,  how  many 
an  one  might  be  gained  and  recovered  !  Scorn 
never  recovers  a  guilty  soul  !  Satan  does  not 
cast  out  Satan  !  The  Beelzebub  of  uncharita- 
bleness  never  binds  up  the  broken  hearted  nor 
preaches  deliverance  to  the  captives  nor  sets 
at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised.  In  the  spirit 
of  meekness  and  with  the  redemptive  purpose, 
go  and  tell  the  fault  between  the  two  of  you 
alone,  and  you  may  possibly  gain  the  one  you 
seek. 

You  have  read  Goethe's  Faust.  And  still 
better  some  of  you  have  seen  it  almost  lived 
out  by  Henry  Irving  and  Ellen  Terry.  You 
will  never  forget  the  look  of  the  heart-broken 
Margaret,  conscious  of  her  wrong,  guilty, 
burdened,  despairing,  hungry  for  a  bit  of 
human  mercy  on  which  she  might  lean,  to 
which  she  might  sob  out  the  story  of  her  fall. 
In  this  mood  she  turned  into  the  church  with 


12  HUMAN  FORGIVENESS 

its  sobbing  organ  tones,  longing  for  exactly 
that  satisfaction  which  the  Roman  Church 
tries  to  offer  in  its  confessional .  She  sought 
a  human  ear  and  heart  of  compassion,  whose 
sympathy  might  embolden  her  to  seek  the  ear 
and  the  forgiveness  of  Heaven.  This  human 
hunger  must  be  reckoned  with.  I  regard  the 
confessional  as  an  impertinent  intrusion  be- 
tween the  soul  of  the  child  and  the  heart  of 
the  Father,  but  the  confessional  could  never 
have  grown  into  the  mighty  and  dangerous 
agency  it  is,  had  it  not  satisfied  a  human  need 
that  was  not  being  met  in  the  attitude  of 
Christian  society  toward  the  guilty.  All 
Christians  ought  to  be  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  in  their  bearing  toward  those  who 
have  sinned,  ever  holding  out  the  hope  and 
promise  of  forgiveness  and  restoration.  When 
we  have  once  learned  the  lesson  of  this 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew  and  the  further 
lesson  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  John  where 
Jesus  spoke  to  his  followers  in  the  upper 
room,  the  ugly  confessional  will  vanish,  just 
as  the  famine  stricken  people  of  India  stopped 
eating  refuse  and  garbage  when  bread  was 
offered  them,  and  only  then. 

Jesus  further  added  those  words  which  in- 
dicate that  this  effort  is  to  be  accompanied  by 
a  spirit  of  large-minded  forgiveness.  Peter 
had  burst  out,  "  L,ord  how  often  shall  my 
brother  sin  against  me  and  I  forgive  him? 


AND   MORAI,  RESTORATION  13 

Until  seven  times  ?"  He  wanted  a  rule,  for 
the  Jews  of  that  day  lived  by  rules  rather 
than  in  the  spirit.  The  Rabbis  said  forgive- 
ness ought  to  be  extended  three  times.  Peter 
accordingly  felt  that  he  was  doing  something 
handsome  in  raising  the  limit  to  seven  times. 
He  had  more  than  doubled  the  standard,  and 
he  looked  up  for  a  word  of  commendation  up- 
on his  generosity. 

But  Jesus  did  not  give  rules.  He  did  not 
mark  off  little  jobs,  saying,  "Do  this  much." 
He  came  not  that  we  might  be  made  sufficient 
for  definite  little  performances  but  that  we 
might  have  life  abundantly.  '  *  I  say  not  unto 
you,  until  seven  times  but  until  seventy  times 
seven.  "  We  are  to  forgive  an  uncountable 
number  of  times,  for  no  one  would  keep  tab 
on  his  friend  up  to  four  hundred  and  ninety 
times.  We  are  not  to  live  by  rule  but  in  the 
spirit  of  forgiveness. 

Then  Jesus  told  Peter  a  story  of  an  unfor- 
giving public  official.  His  king  had  just  for- 
given him  a  debt  of  ten  millions  of  dollars 
in  our  currency,  because  he  was  unable  to 
pay.  But  that  same  official  went  out  and 
found  a  fellow  servant  who  owed  him  twenty 
five  dollars,  and  cast  him  into  prison  accord- 
ing to  the  law  of  that  land,  because  he  could 
not  pay  his  small  obligation.  The  proportion 
is  suggestive — ten  millions  owing  to  the  king, 
and  twenty-five  dollars  owed  by  a  brother 


14  HUMAN   FORGIVENESS 

man,  but  in  the  face  of  it  all  the  official  ex- 
hibited this  rigorous  hardness  !  The  king 
said  to  him,  '  'Oh  thou  wicked  servant,  I  for- 
gave thee  all  that  debt  because  thou  desirest 
me,  shouldst  thou  not  also  have  had  compas- 
sion on  thy  fellow  servant?"  Our  offences 
against  the  holy  law  of  God  long  continued, 
extending  into  thought  and  desire  as  well  as 
word  and  act,  sins  of  neglect  and  indifference, 
how  they  mount  up  into  awful  account  !  And 
then  in  the  very  face  of  God's  mercy  toward 
us,  we  are  so  stern,  fierce,  exacting  with  some 
fellow  man  who  commits  a  comparatively 
trifling  offence  against  us  !  How  absurdly 
inconsistent  we  are  ! 

Some  of  the  strongest  words  Jesus  spoke 
were  against  that  moral  conceit  which  readily 
forgets  its  own  shortcomings  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  heaps  hot  indignation  on  light 
wrongs  done  to  it  by  a  fellow  man.  The 
moral  conceit  which  becomes  hard,  stiff,  un- 
forgiving, how  hateful  it  is!  It  seems  to  say, 
<(  I  have  never  done  wrong  ;  I  have  never 
made  a  mistake  ;  I  have  always  done  my  full 
duty  before  God.  Now  therefore  if  my 
brother  man  makes  a  slip,  wrongs  or  injures 
me,  I  will  cut  him  dead;  I  will  condemn  him 
utterly;  I  will  cast  him  into  the  outer  darkness 
of  my  contempt."  Alas  for  such  conceit! 
How  far  it  is  from  the  kingdom  of  God  ! 
How  long  a  road  it  has  to  travel  before  it  even 


AND   MORAI,  RESTORATION  15 

comes  within  sight  of  that  cross  where  He 
hung,  saying  of  the  liars,  hypocrites  and 
murderers  who  were  killing  him,  ' '  Father 
forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do." 

'  *  The  Lord  is  slow  to  anger,  plenteous  in 
forgiveness,"  the  psalmist  sings.  And  so 
must  His  children  be,  slow  to  anger  and  plen- 
teous in  forgiveness.  The  Christian  spirit  is 
one  of  large-minded  forbearance.  You  know 
people  who  are  always  taking  offence.  They 
are  very  sensitive,  they  say,  almost  boasting 
of  it.  In  nine  cases  of  out  of  ten  it  is  simply 
a  euphonious  way  of  saying  they  are  intensely 
selfish.  They  are  forever  thinking  of 
themselves,  looking  for  slights,  suspicious, 
exacting,  unforgiving,  exalting  themselves 
until  they  think  the  world  at  large  ought  to 
to  looking  out  to  see  that  their  particular  feel- 
ings are  petted  and  coddled.  They  are  forget- 
ting to  think  about  what  impress  they  may  be 
making  upon  the  feelings  of  others  and  to  what 
extent  they  may  be  failing  in  making  their  own 
just  contribution  to  the  social  peace  and  joy. 
They  perpetually  dwell  on  their  own  states  of 
feeling  until  they  are  abnormal,  diseased,  sensi- 
tive with  the  touchiness  that  belongs  to  moral 
illness.  Such  a  spirit  is  far  from  the  spirit  of 
the  Lord  which  is  ever,  "  slow  to  anger  and 
plenteous  in  forgiveness." 


l6  HUMAN  FORGIVENESS 

These  counsels  of  Christ  are  not  merely  to 
make  social  relations  more  agreeable.  Our 
very  salvation  depends  upon  our  learning  to 
live  peacefully,  happily,  helpfully  with  other 
people  as  they  are.  If  we  cannot  live  with 
and  love  these  people  whom  we  have  seen, 
how  shall  we  be  able  to  live  with  and  love 
God  whom  we  have  not  seen  ?  "  If  ye  there- 
fore, forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neith- 
er will  your  Heavenly  Father  forgive  you 
your  trespasses." 

And  the  salvation  of  others  is  also  in- 
volved. The  readiness  and  ability  of  sinful 
men  to  believe  in  and  accept  the  forgiveness 
ot  the  Father  depends  in  great  measure  on 
the  spirit  they  find  in  His  earthly  children. 
It  is  for  us  to  embody  that  merciful  spirit 
which  dwells  at  the  heart  of  the  Divine  Re- 
demption and  so  become  accredited  ambassa- 
dors beseeching  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 


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